Airplane Door Flies Open, People Sucked Out, Scores Dead

CNN ^

[William McKinley]

Just saw this on Fox. A plane (I think by the tail end of the story it is a Russian one) had a failure of a door midflight and everyone on board is dead, with many having been sucked out. If I heard it right, this took place over Congo.

[martin_fierro]

Reached for comment, Bill Clinton said, "What a way to go!"

[randita]

No one with seatbelts on?

[Bartholomew Roberts]

So did it crash afterwords or did it land with a dead captain at the controls?

[verity]

Those damned Chineese screen doors again!

[William McKinley]

I am guessing since they said ALL on board are dead, that means that the sudden change in air pressure caused even the pilot to black out. Just a guess. Or maybe I heard wrong. But if I heard right, that would mean that some got sucked out, some didn't, but the plane crashed (or is cruising on autopilot right now with a bunch of dead people on board)

[OXENinFLA]

http://iafrica.com/news/worldnews/235284.htm

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Plane door opens midflight over DRC
Posted Fri, 09 May 2003


Many of an estimated 200 passengers on an internal flight in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were feared dead after a door on an Ilyushin airplane burst open in mid-flight, military officials said on Friday.

The accident occurred on Thursday night when the Soviet-era cargo plane was flying at an altitude of 2200 meters, en route from Kinshasa, in the west, to the southeastern city of Lubumbashi.

The Russian crew was able to turn the Ilyushin 76 around and land at Kinshasa airport following the accident.

Members of DRC's rapid intervention police force and their families were among the flight's passengers.

The accident was only reported on Friday morning after the victims' relatives were informed of the tragedy, the officials said.

An investigation has been launched to determine the causes of the accident.

Accidents involving airplanes are frequent in DRC. The most deadly dates back to January 1996, when the Russian crew of an Antonov cargo plane had to abort take-off from Kinshasa airport because the aircraft was overloaded.

Travelling at high speed, the plane ploughed into a busy market that had been set up illegally just off the runway. Official figures say 365 people were killed in the accident but unofficial sources put the number of dead at more than 800 people, some reportedly sliced death by the plane's propellers or crushed by the aircraft.

[kattracks]

Many Feared Dead in Congo After Plane Door Opens

May 9

— KINSHASA (Reuters) - Passengers were sucked out of a Russian-made plane over the Democratic Republic of Congo late on Thursday after a door opened accidentally during the flight, a military official said on Friday.

'The doors opened including the ramp as the pressure system broke down. Everybody was sucked out and is presumed dead,' the official in the capital Kinshasa said.

It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board. A Russian aviation official in Kinshasa, who declined to be named, said he believed there were 129 people on board.

[William McKinley]

Thanks. Obviously I misheard a few details.

[MinuteGal]

Does Ross Perot know about this "giant sucking sound"?

Leni

[William McKinley]

Kattracks, yours matches what I heard. It differs from what is in the African paper. I don't know what to make of that. Was everyone on board killed, or did it land with most on board dead?

[citizen]

The title need to be amended, all did not die the plane landed....

[michigander]

Dozens die in Congo plane horror

Friday, May 9, 2003 Posted: 1248 GMT ( 8:48 PM HKT)

KINSHASA, Congo (Reuters) -- Passengers were sucked out of a Russian-made plane over the Democratic Republic of Congo late on Thursday after a door opened accidentally during the flight, a military official said on Friday.

"The doors opened including the ramp as the pressure system broke down. Everybody was sucked out and is presumed dead," the official in the capital Kinshasa said.

It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board. A Russian aviation official in Kinshasa, who declined to be named, said he believed there were 129 people on board.

He said the pilot had managed to turn the plane around and land in Kinshasa after the accident.

Congo's Minister for Peace Vital Kamerhe confirmed that a cargo door had opened mid-flight and that there was some damage.

The Russian official said the plane was an Ilyushin 76 and had been chartered by the Congolese army to fly from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, Congo's second biggest city in the southeast and home to a big military base.

He said he believed the passengers were a mixture of military officials and civilians.

The four-engined Ilyushin 76 is a versatile transport aircraft widely used in Africa, the Middle East, India and China, and remains in service despite its age because of the shortage of cargo aircraft worldwide.

The ruined state of Congo's road network means that long-distance journeys have to be made by air, though many aircraft are old and poorly maintained.

[Snickersnee]

Il-76 bump! Surely someone's got a pic....

[TommyDale]

I hate when that happens!

[William McKinley]

[Tree of Liberty]

BBC News

Scores die in freak air tragedy

More than 120 people are feared dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo after being sucked out of a cargo plane.

Military officials are quoted as saying that the rear ramp of a plane became detached soon after it had taken off from the capital, Kinshasa, on an internal flight.

Airport sources told the BBC in Kinshasa that only the Russian crew members survived.

The accident took place on Thursday night at an altitude of some 7,000 feet (2,200 metres) about 45 minutes after the plane took off.

The plane had been chartered by the military and was flying from Kinshasa to Congo's second city, Lubumbashi.

The Russian crew was able to turn the Ilyushin 76 around and land at Kinshasa airport following the incident.

A senior air force officer said an inquiry was under way.

There has not yet been any official comment from the government.

The BBC's Mark Dummett in Kinshasa says there are often plane accidents in the vast country.

He says the poor state of the roads and the terrible state of the economy means any journey over distance requires a hair-raising ride in a poorly-maintained aircraft.

Many are old Soviet military planes, with passengers and cargo crammed in the back.

[Lazamataz]

It doesn't work like that except in the movies.

[Timesink]

The Russian crew was able to turn the Ilyushin 76 around and land at Kinshasa airport following the accident.

If I were them, I would have run off that plane screaming, "It's the Rapture! It's the Rapture! I read Left Behind!!!"