1996 Air Africa Antonov An-32 crash

On 8 January 1996, a Moscow Airways Antonov An-32B operating on behalf of Air Africa overran the runway at N'Dolo Airport after attempting to take-off overloaded. The aircraft was flying from Kinshasa to Kahemba, Zaire. The aircraft ploughed into Kinshasa's Simbazikita street market. Four of the six crew of the aircraft survived the accident. On the ground, however, it is estimated that there were in between 225 and 348 fatalities with more than 500 people injured. It was the deadliest aviation accident in African history until the 2018 Algerian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 crash,^[2] the deadliest to occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the deadliest in terms of ground fatalities, superseded only by the intentional crashes of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 in the September 11 attacks, and thus the deadliest accident in terms of ground fatalities.

1996 Air Africa crash

RA-26222, the aircraft involved in the accident
Accident
Date	8 January 1996 (1996-01-08)
Summary	Runway overrun after failed takeoff
Site	N'Dolo Airport, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire) 4.3295°S 15.318°E / -4.3295; 15.318
Total fatalities	239
Total injuries	Approx. 500 (253 serious; est.)
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Antonov An-32B
Operator	Moscow Airways on behalf of Air Africa
Registration	RA-26222
Flight origin	N'Dolo Airport
Destination	Kahemba Airport
Occupants	6
Passengers	0
Crew	6
Fatalities	2
Injuries	4
Survivors	4[1]
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	237
Ground injuries	500+ (253 serious)

Background

After decades of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa, the air transport business is complex and often illegal. As Johan Peleman explained:

The relationship between the charterers, who operate the plane, the shipping agent who organises the delivery for his clients and the company that actually owns the plane, is often very complex. This makes it difficult to see which of the contracting parties is actually responsible for the illegal aspects of the transactions. The Antonov that crashed in Kinshasa in January 1996 was operated by African Air. The company had rented the plane and crew from Scibe CMMJ, the company of Bemba Saolona. Scibe's Belgium based sales agent had leased the plane to the company in Zaïre. The Belgian company in turn had contracted with Moscow Airways.^[3]

It has been reported that this flight was carrying weapons to UNITA:

Scibe Airlift, an airline owned by Bemba Saolona and (at least in 1985) Mobutu himself (Forbes, 18 November 1985), was also found to be transporting arms to UNITA when, in January 1996, an Antonov 32 crashed on take-off from Kinshasa en route to Angola, killing an estimated 370 people (Agence France Presse, 10 January 1996). The aircraft and crew, chartered by African Air from Scibe, had, in turn, been leased from Moscow Airways through Scibe's sales agent, Scibe CMMJ, in Ostend (The Washington Post, 21 March 1997).^[4]

Crash

While attempting to take off fully fuelled and overloaded from N'Dolo Airport's short runway, the An-32B did not achieve sufficient speed to bring its nose up, yet began to lift. It crashed into the open-air Simbazikita produce market, full of shacks, pedestrians and cars, and its full fuel load ignited. The number of casualties cited varies from 225 (per the manslaughter charges) to 348.^[5]

Aftermath

The first injured went to the Mama Yemo Hospital (now Kinshasa General Hospital), which was quickly overwhelmed. Two other hospitals took the additional victims. A worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross, Vincent Nicod, stated that 217 bodies were found at the market, in addition to 32 more bodies possibly already at morgues within the city.^[6]

President Mobutu and Saolona both attended the funeral on 10 January 1996 at the Protestant Centenary Cathedral (French: Cathédrale du Centenaire).^[7]

The Russian pilots, Nicolai Kazarin and Andrei Gouskov, were charged and convicted of manslaughter, each receiving the maximum two-year sentence. At trial, they admitted they were using borrowed clearance papers from Scibe Airlift, that they knew the flight was illegal, and that the flight was actually bound for Angola. Scibe Airlift and African Air paid fines of US$1.4 million to the families and the injured.^[8]