Ethiopian Airlines Suffers Another Accident
Taylor Rains December 10, 2019
It has been a rough year for Ethiopian Airlines. Simple Flying has reported that a Dash-8 aircraft suffered a runway excursion today, veering off the runway at Juba International Airport (JUB) due to poor weather conditions.
What We Know So Far
Preliminary reports and eye witness accounts have suggested that the aircraft was taking off in bad weather, making it difficult for the pilots to see the runway. Although not all details are known at this time, images have appeared online of the aircraft in a grassy field with apparent damage to the landing gear and fuselage. Reports say all passengers and crew have been deplaned with no casualties. The Kenyan Aviator posted on Twitter, “An Ethiopian Airlines DHC8-Q402 ran off the runway at Juba International Airport this evening. All passengers have been evacuated and no injuries reported so far. Aircraft has sustained damage, and all landings into Juba are made via the unorthrodox runway 31.”
After a lengthy delay in their response to the event, Ethiopian finally posted an update to Facebook, “Ethiopian Airlines Flight Number ET357, De Havilland Q400 aircraft with Registration ET-AQC on scheduled flight from Juba, South Sudan, to Addis Ababa had an incident at Juba Airport on Tuesday, 10 December 2019 at around 5:15 PM. The Aircraft skidded to the side of the runway during the takeoff roll. All passengers and crew were disembarked safely and shall be accommodated on the next available flight. We have learned that the weather was windy and rainy. Ethiopian Airlines wishes to apologize to its esteemed customers for the inconvenience.”
Updates will be provided as the story unfolds.
