Pilot’s ‘calm decision-making’ praised as plane with 55 on board crash-lands into sea

A passenger plane in Somalia carrying 55 people on board crash-landed in shallow water on a seashore near the international airport on Tuesday. No one was injured in the incident.

The crew of the plane, a Fokker 50, reported a problem 15 minutes after takeoff from Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport on Tuesday morning and requested to return to the airport, according to Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority.

Ahmed Macalin Hassan, the CAA director, said the pilot then tried to touch down but failed to stop on the runway. The plane overshot the tarmac before coming to rest in shallow water near the shoreline.

The Starsky Aviation aircraft was bound for the northern city of Gaalkacyo.

Pictures posted on social media from the scene showed passengers walking away from the wreckage of the plane.

Starsky Aviation chief executive Ahmed Nur said “the aircraft overran on the runway” before the pilot crash-landed on the shoreline near the international airport.

He added: “No injuries, no deaths.”

Starsky spokesperson Hassan Mohamed Aden said in a statement: “We are relieved to confirm that all passengers and crew are safe. Investigations are underway to establish what caused the technical issue that led to the emergency landing.

“The pilot’s swift and calm decision-making played a decisive role in ensuring the safety of everyone on board, and we commend him for how he handled the situation,” he added.

The African Union’s mission in Somalia wrote on X that “emergency responders, including @UNSOS_ and @AUSSOM_ troops, were swiftly deployed” to help with rescue efforts.

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It is not yet clear what the technical fault was.

In a statement, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority said that “an aircraft with registration number 60-YAS, an F50, was involved in a runway overrun at Mogadishu Aden Abdulle International Airport”.

It added: “The aircraft was carrying 55 people on board. All occupants survived the incident and were promptly transported to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation and care.

“No fatalities have been reported.”