January is unfortunately shaping up to be quite a busy month in terms of aviation incidents, with the latest two coming out of the African continent.
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Airlink Embraer ERJ-135 suffers runway excursion in Pemba, Mozambique
On January 18, an Airlink Embraer ERJ-135 suffered a runway excursion at Pemba Airport (POL) due to wet conditions at the field. In a statement, the airline said:
The Embraer 135 Regional Jet, registration ZS-SJX, operating as flight 4Z 204 from Johannesburg, had 32 passengers and three crew onboard. Everyone onboard disembarked from the aircraft through the main front entrance. At this time, there have been no reported injuries. Airlink and airport personnel at Pemba are taking care of the passengers and crew.
Airlink has notified the relevant Mozambique and South African authorities. The airport operator has closed the runway, but as soon as it re-opens, we will dispatch a back-up aircraft to Pemba and a recovery team who will assist with retrieving the aircraft, which had aquaplaned off the runway.
As the 22-year-old aircraft slid off the runway, its right gear was significantly damaged in the process. The aircraft came to a stop in the muddy field a short distance away from the runway’s edge. From the few photos, it seems this aircraft escaped serious damage, with most of it being focused around the right landing gear and the surrounding fairing.
Flight 204 operates daily from Johannesburg (JNB) to Pemba, with an average flight time of two and half hours.
Ethiopian Airlines de Havilland Dash 8-400 suffers landing gear failure in Mekele, Ethiopia
On the same day, an Ethiopian Airlines de Havilland Dash 8-400 performed flight ET106, a scheduled domestic service from Addis Ababa (ADD) to Mekele (MQX). On touch down at Mekele, the aircraft encountered issues with its left landing gear, resulting in it veering to the left onto the dirt field next to the runway.
The airline provided a brief update, saying:
Ethiopian Airlines ET106/18 January which departed Addis Ababa at 12:30 Local time had a runway excursion after landing at Mekelle Alula Aba Nega International Airport at 14:10 Local time. All passengers and crew were disembarked safely with no injuries.
We are conducting investigation to determine the cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience encountered.
The aircraft involved is registered ET-AVS, and is still relatively young at just 5-years-old. Unlike the Airlink ERJ-135 above, this Dash 8 did not fair so well. Besides the left main gear being torn off, the left engine seems to be badly damaged along with some parts of the undercarriage.
[Featured Photo: aviationbrk/Twitter ]