Less than a week after a Malian cargo plane crashed at Gao Airport, information gathered online gives us a clearer idea of the circumstances surrounding the crash. Gray areas remain, but given the silence of the Malian authorities, the facts quickly came to the surface, supported by the publication of several videos that were freely available on social networks day after day.
It all begins on Saturday, September 23, 2023, when RFI’s Mandekan-Fulfude service sounds the alarm. A photo reaches us: An Ilyushin II-76 crashed near Gao Airport. A quick analysis of the image helps confirm the device type. The wreckage is burning and emitting thick black smoke, but the tailplane (the T-shaped rear portion of the aircraft) is intact. After several comparisons, the observation is there. It is actually an Ilyushin II-76.
Very quickly we thought the plane had left the runway. Agence France-Presse mentioned the accident, citing a spokesman for the Bundeswehr, which is still present in Gao as part of the United Nations mission in Mali (Minusma). “According to the information we have, the plane must have overshot the runway,” he says, pointing out that it was not a Bundeswehr aircraft. “It is an IL-76 model aircraft (built in Russia) used not only by the Russians but also by the Malian armed forces and many others,” he added.
Photo showing the Ilyushin Il-76 after its crash at Gao Airport on September 23, 2023. © Screenshot
The presence of another Il-76, operated by Azerbaijani airline Silkway Airlines, around Gao further adds to the confusion. But this private company’s planes have blue decoration, while the damaged plane is white. This Sunday, September 24th, things will become clearer. The plane that crashed on Saturday “belonged to the Malian army and was specifically transporting soldiers from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner,” AFP reported, citing a military source and forces on the ground. “On Saturday evening, injured white people were transported by another plane to an unknown destination,” assures a source from the airport. “When the survivors arrived in Gao, there were almost only Russian Wagner soldiers there,” a source close to the firefighters added to AFP.
At this point, the junta in power made no comment, not a line in a press release, no trace of the bodies, no statement from the injured… It was also impossible to approach the wreckage of the plane. Internet users ask questions on social networks. How do you hide a plane disaster? Who was in the hut destroyed by the flames? The collective’s X account (formerly Twitter) All eyes on Wagner, which investigates the activities of the Russian paramilitary group, puts the death toll at 140. This information cannot currently be verified. All that is known is that an Il-76 can carry up to 140 people in its troop transport configuration.
Looking for Ilyushin
Given the authorities’ lack of clarity regarding the nationality and number of victims, RFI decided to look into the aircraft and the circumstances of the crash. On September 24, 2023, a surprising turn of events occurred: a fairly clear photo of a white Il-76 bearing the Malian roundel on the underside of the fin (rear part) was published online. This is a first as the aircraft had not previously appeared in the inventory of the Malian Air Force, which officially has many Casa 295 transport aircraft but not the much larger Ilyushin model.
The Ilyushin Il-76 lands on the runway at Gao Airport in Mali. © Screenshot
The question then arises: Where and when was this picture taken? When we followed it online, we discovered that it had initially been leaked on a German forum of aviation enthusiasts. It was posted by an account apparently created for the occasion before disappearing a few minutes later. The photo has now been shared widely on social media. What’s even more disturbing is that this will be the only post from this mysterious account titled “GameMix,” which wrote in a comment at 2:32 a.m. on September 24, “I was there today [au moment du crash, NDLR]. We were at stop A, it was not a Silk aircraft, TZ98 perhaps confirmed for now.” The accident was due to “pilot error”. There are therefore witnesses who obviously want to remain discreet and provide interesting information.
Translation of the publication published by “GameMix” in a German aviation forum. © Screenshot
The aircraft would have the registration Tango Zoulou 98 (TZ98). TZ is the code used to designate the Republic of Mali in the records of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). But so far this device with this code has not been seen anywhere. Could it then be a Russian cargo plane used to transport Wagner’s militiamen, but repainted in the colors of the Malian army to cover their tracks? What is certain is that this crash took place against a backdrop of growing tensions between the various armed actors in northern Mali and the Malian army. The Famas and their Russian proxies fight to control the territory and send reinforcements while Minusma retreats. The trail of the mysterious Il-76 registered in Mali also leads us indirectly to the UN troops in Mali.
Under the eyes of Minusma
If we look closely at the photo published on September 24th, we can easily determine the location where the photo was taken. It is located in Gao, at the stopping point on the traffic ramp, also called the taxiway, that connects the Minusma aircraft parking lot to the main runway. Another important detail: the video from which the photo comes was taken from the cabin of a plane that was presumably waiting for the runway to clear before lining up and taking off.
At the top right of the photo we find a new clue. A piece of gray pole extending above the cockpit. This is an in-flight refueling boom. In the Minusma inventory, only the C-130J Hercules and the German Airbus A400M are equipped with it. We know that air force cargo aircraft traffic at Gao base is significant as the Germans relocate their base after Mali drove out the UN force to which they are part.
The refueling boom visible in the photo on the left and the aircraft’s profile visible in the screenshot on the right confirm that this photo was taken from an Airbus A400M. © Screenshots/RFI Montage
So the leak certainly came from a German crew. A trace confirmed by the pilot’s reflection in the cockpit window, seen in this photo. By zooming in and contrasting the image, we can see a German insignia on the shoulder of the pilot who took the photo.
The pilot, undoubtedly the origin of this photo, wears a German insignia on his shoulder. © Screenshots/RFI Montage
We attempted to contact the Bundeswehr’s communications services regarding the movements of their aircraft on the day of the Gao crash. At the time of writing, we have not received a response. In fact, everything indicates that the photo was taken a few seconds before the accident. The low-quality satellite images of Gao Airport on the day of the crash indicate that there was actually a large aircraft parked in the Minusma parking lot on the day of the crash.
Satellite images show that a large aircraft was parked at Gao Airport on September 23, 2023, the day of the Ilyushin Il-76 crash. © Screenshots/RFI Montage
Full video of the crash
Wednesday morning, new surprise: the full video of the accident is published on X. The confirmation we have been waiting for is before our eyes. In this new shot, taken from a different angle (perhaps from a rooftop or the control tower), we can see the white Il-76 landing, flying past a gray-painted military A400M, the same one from which the previous one Photo was taken.
September 23, 2023: Video footage of the crashed Ilyushin IL-76 (TZ-98T) at Gao Airport, Mali has emerged. The plane can be seen landing at high speed on runway 06 and rolling over the end until it broke into pieces and caught fire. pic.twitter.com/pDo7lL9IwT
– JACDEC (@JacdecNew) September 27, 2023
The Malian cargo plane is said to be overloaded. He drives fast and cannot brake effectively enough. When he reaches the end of the route, he leaves the concrete and continues his race across the fields in a cloud of dust. An explosion occurs in which the passengers’ chances of survival are slim. If we look closely at the video, we see that the Il-76’s wheels almost touched the ground halfway down the runway. For a successful landing, he only has a short distance left – according to our calculations, around 1,000 meters. Which, in its configuration, was obviously not enough to hope to stop the device.
The Ilyushin Il-76, photographed from the German A400M parked in the Minusma parking lot, landed with its wheels in the middle of the runway before crashing beyond the runway boundaries. © Screenshots/RFI Montage
A new undated photo that appeared online on Wednesday, September 27, shows the remains of the Ilyushin Il-76 after it crashed beyond the runway boundaries. We have geolocated this photo to confirm that it is indeed this Il-76.
View of the wreckage of the Ilyushin Il-76 behind the runway at Gao Airport. © Screenshots/RFI Montage
Why didn’t he go around again? Maybe one day the investigation will shed light. Meanwhile, five days after the accident, the Malian government has not broken its silence. Whether coincidence or not, the Facebook page of the Malian Armed Forces refers to the death of an airman this Wednesday, September 27: Lieutenant Colonel Moussa Traoré, an aviation maintenance specialist, disappeared “on September 23, 2023, during the ordered flight duty”, without delivering however, further details on the circumstances of his death.