On Thursday, June 28, 2007, at approximately 1:40 p.m. local time, an Angolan Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on landing at an airport in M’Banza Congo, a town in northern Angola. M’Banza Congo is located about 180 miles from the Angolan capital of Luanda.
The aircraft, owned and operated by Angolan Airlines (also called TAAG), crashed and broke apart after landing halfway down the runway and bouncing out of control. At this time it has been reported that the aircraft clipped a small house next to the runway upon its approach. The landing gear of the aircraft appears to have malfunctioned and given way on touch down, resulting in the aircraft splitting in half. The fuselage and the front section of the aircraft landed approximately 50 meters from each other.
Five of the 79 passengers suffered fatal injuries, including the co-pilot, one of the seven crew members on board.
This terrible tragedy occurred only hours after the European Union announced that it had added Angolan Airlines to its international blacklist due to safety concerns, prohibiting it from making flights to the EU. The EU’s blacklist incidentally includes a ban on 62 additional African airlines announced earlier this year.
Africa has the worst flight safety record in the world, a statistic leading directly to the inauguration of the Africa Civil Aviation Authority this week. The AFRO-CAA was created in an effort to streamline aviation regulations and licensing throughout the continent, by establishing and governing standards for registration of airlines, aircraft maintenance, pilot training, examination and licensing.
Authorities are currently investigating this accident and rescuers have recently retrieved the flight data recorder, which will become the main focus of the accident investigation. The Motley Rice Aviation team is currently reviewing this accident and the legal responsibility that Angolan Airways and Boeing may have to the families of the victims of this accident.
If you or someone you know is interested in seeking legal recourse due to wrongful death as a result of this accident, please contact Motley Rice Aviation attorney and former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo at (843) 216-9138 or toll free at 1-800-768-4026.
|
Motley Rice attorneys have many years of experience representing victims of airline disasters and have aircraft pilots and mechanics on staff. We also have French, Portuguese and Spanish translators on staff. If you have any questions, comments or would like to explore your legal rights as a result of this air crash, click here. |
|
