Jonglei State airstrips: what is the problem?

Jonglei State airstrips: what is the problem?

Another plane belonging to Air Service Uganda crash-landed at Akobo airstrip of Jonglei State on Saturday, according to Jonglei State Minister for Roads and Bridges James Mawich Makuach, Radio Miraya quoted.

He said the 12 passengers and two crew members who were on board survived the accident without any injury.

This is the second incident in barely one week when another passenger plane destined to Juba from Uror County crashed in Bor airstrip of Jonglei State.

The plane had twelve passengers on board including the crew and two pilots due to what it believed to be a technical fault.

“When the plane landed, its tire burst and I believe it happened when they took off from Uror but they didn’t know and when they touched down, there was no control from the aircraft, they rolled out from the runway and went to the side of the runway and hit a tree,” said the Director of Bor Airport, Kuot John Akech.

However, no person was said to have been hurt in the accident.

These two cases of plane accidents in Jonglei State are so worrying. It is becoming so rampant like the motorcycle accidents in Juba that are no longer news. According to the statistics, Jonglei State has experienced more plane crashes than any other states in the country.

In March 2021, a commercial plane crashed in Jonglei State and killed all 10 passengers on board,

The ten people including eight passengers and two pilots, all lost their lives after South Supreme Airlines flight HK-4274 bound for the capital, Juba took off from the town of Pieri in Jonglei State and crashed.

The authorities need to investigate the frequent occurrence of a plane crash in Jonglei. They need to find out the condition of the airstrips.

Do they meet the standard for the plane to land or do they need rehabilitation? The protracted heavy rainfall and the floods might have caused some damage to the airfields due to soil erosions that the authorities need to repair.

The airstrips are not tarmacked and that makes them not resistant to rainwater. So, there is a need to rehabilitate all the airstrips, particularly in those places that have been affected by the floods.

Apart from rehabilitating the airstrips, those planes providing internal flight should be subjected to regular services to ensure the safety of the users.

Previously, the authorities were mainly focusing on Antonov planes which now it is important to ensure that all the planes operating in the country meet the required standards of operation.

The condition of the airstrips as well as the planes need to be taken seriously to avoid another news of “plane crash-landed” be it in Jonglei State or any other part of the country.

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