A Boeing 737 plane skidded off the runway during takeoff at an airport in Senegal, the country’s transport minister said Thursday, leaving multiple injured.
Transport Minister El Malick Ndiaye said 10 people were injured when the Air Sénégal flight operated by TransAir went off the tarmac at Blaise Diagne International Airport, which serves the capital of Dakar. Local media reports citing press communications from the airport say 11 people were injured, including four seriously.
Intense video footage shared on Facebook by the Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko purportedly showing the aftermath of the crash depicts a panic scene of people evacuating the plane, which he also said had “caught fire.” People can be heard screaming while flames are visible on one side of the aircraft.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ndiaye said the incident occurred at 1:14 a.m. following an “acceleration stop” during takeoff. He said the plane was carrying 79 passengers, four cabin crew members, and two pilots—one of whom was among the injured. The injured were taken to a hospital for treatment while the rest of the passengers were taken to a hotel.
The minister also ordered an investigation into the cause of the incident and apologized to airport passengers whose flights were delayed as a result.
Separately on Thursday, another Boeing 737 suffered an issue while landing at Gazipaşa–Alanya Airport in Turkey, the local Hürriyet newspaper reports. According to Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, the Turkish transportation minister, the nose landing gear of the aircraft belonging to Corendon Airline was “broken,” causing one of the plane’s tires to burst and damaging a strut at the front of the jet.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries to 184 passengers and 6 crew members,” Uraloğlu said. He added that the runway would be temporarily closed and flights diverted to other nearby airports, and that an investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched. “At the end of the technical process, the aircraft will be withdrawn from the runway,” Uraloğlu said. “I extend my best wishes to all our passengers.”
Incredibly, the mishap was the second accident involving a Boeing plane in Turkey in as many days. On Wednesday, a Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx made a dramatic landing at Istanbul Airport after it, too, had a problem with its front landing gear. Video of the aircraft touching down showed sparks flying from the jet as it scraped along the runway—though thankfully no one was injured.
The Daily Beast has contacted Boeing for comment on the latest incidents.
