Two planes went off the runway at the same airport due to the same error, one on landing and the other on takeoff. The same passengers were on board both planes. The second had actually arrived on site to recover them and take them to a new destination. A coincidence that hardly leads to similar precedents. But what happened?
INSIGHTS
This is crazy 🤯
An Embraer E120 had landing gear problems while landing in Kikoboga, Tanzania and went off the runway.
Another plane was sent to rescue passengers, but this one had problems taking off, crashed into a building and caught fire.pic.twitter.com/sTJmeEcRx5
— Flight Emergency (@FlightEmergency) November 29, 2023
The first accident
On the morning of November 28, a United Air Zanzibar plane with 30 passengers and three crew members on board took off from Zanzibar, an archipelago off the coast of Tanzania.
During the approach to their destination, the Kikoboga runway, the crew reported problems with the aircraft’s landing gear. Kikoboga serves the Mikumi National Park, one of the largest in Tanzania. The aircraft managed to land, but the maneuver caused the main landing gear to collapse and the aircraft to veer off the runway. It reportedly sustained significant damage and stalled on the nose gear, lower fuselage and both wings. No injuries were reported. A video shared on social media showed the aftermath of the accident.
The second accident
A few hours later the second accident occurred in Kikoboga. A Sindbard Air Embraer was en route to Zanzibar when its nose gear collapsed during acceleration. Its right wing struck a building before the plane came to a stop. As on the previous flight, it carried the same 30 passengers and three crew members, without injuries.