There were moments of terror in Senegal due to a problem that occurred during the take-off phases of a Boeing 737-300 from the Blaise Diagne airport in Dakar: the aircraft, for reasons still unknown and to be determined during the investigation phase, suddenly skidded, ending up off the track and ending its run in the bush surrounding the runway.
According to what was reported by the authorities, the events occurred in the early hours of the morning today, Thursday 9 May. There were a total of 85 people on board the Air Sénégal flight operated by TransAir and bound for Bamako, Mali, including 79 passengers, two pilots and four crew members. The accident occurred around one in the morning, and caused, according to statements by the Senegalese Transport Minister El Malick Ndiaye, eleven injured, four of whom are in serious condition. However, no deaths have been reported, at least for the moment. Given the dynamics of the crash, following which the authorities ordered the closure of Blaise Diagne airport, the consequences could have been much worse.
In the images taken by some of those present, a panicked woman can be seen fleeing from the wreckage of the aircraft, while flames emerge from the left engine of the Boeing capable of lighting up the night sky of Dakar. In some videos taken after the fire was put out it is possible to see the aircraft on the ground with a clear hole in the left engine, completely covered in firefighting foam.
“Our plane just took off fire“wrote Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko in a post on Facebook which showed terrified passengers jumping down emergency slides as flames engulfed the left side of the plane.
“The emergency plan was activated by the airport authorities as soon as the information was communicated to them”the airport explained in a note,“therefore, all emergency services at the airport were mobilized for the evacuation of passengers and their assistance”. The injured were rushed to hospital, while the rest of the passengers were hosted by a hotel.
Boeing, which is already experiencing a particularly difficult moment, therefore finds itself adding two episodes to the already long list of problems that have occurred on its vehicles, the last of which in Senegal occurred just twenty-four hours after the accident in Istanbul.
Here a 767 cargo plane operated by the American postal service FedEx has in fact carried out a emergency landing after a malfunction with the nose gear, which had not opened sufficiently to allow the pilot to complete the maneuver safely.
