Besides the Chinese and Lebanese, Russians are probably the next most common expatriates to be seen around large african towns. They come for one reason and that is to make large amounts of cash flying freight in old Antonov's.
Due to the road/rail infrastructure being so terrible and slow outside of major towns there is a very lucrative business flying freight between major hubs. Large Antonov aircraft can be bought in cheap, the rules on air-worthiness are greatly relaxed, almost abandoned for a price. Biggest problem being is they are the cause of many, many fatalities in African airports due to overloading and poor servicing.
This photo was taken late 2009. All of the aircraft pictured here flew several flights of freight each day back and forth to Brazzaville. Every single take-off I watched it was easy to see the aircraft was carrying too much weight, such as 40t instead of 30t. No surprises when I came across the following article recently.
http://avherald.com/h?article=439b1572&opt=0
Terrible accident, especially for the locals who lived in the areas. I'm wondering which of the aircraft it was, I can't find any photos with the tail-signs visible unfortunately.
Due to the road/rail infrastructure being so terrible and slow outside of major towns there is a very lucrative business flying freight between major hubs. Large Antonov aircraft can be bought in cheap, the rules on air-worthiness are greatly relaxed, almost abandoned for a price. Biggest problem being is they are the cause of many, many fatalities in African airports due to overloading and poor servicing.
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| Pointe-Noire, Congo |
http://avherald.com/h?article=439b1572&opt=0
Terrible accident, especially for the locals who lived in the areas. I'm wondering which of the aircraft it was, I can't find any photos with the tail-signs visible unfortunately.
That sounds like a real problem over packing planes. That's a bad accident.
ReplyDeleteThe countries laws are a joke, they have no way of keeping up with crime either. the country has fallen into a black hole, there is almost no way of escaping unless a major revamp takes place.
ReplyDeleteplane accidents... more hard laws or revisions.
ReplyDeletethat's terrible :(
ReplyDeletegreed is clearly the cause. Greed and a lack of respect for human life
ReplyDeleteHopefully this tragedy will serve as the catalyst for stricter standards for the planes there
ReplyDeletesounds bad
ReplyDeleteI didn't know russians had that much to do with Africa:O
ReplyDeletenice interesting blog
ReplyDeleteGoddamn Russians.. LMAO, looking to make all this money. :O, kidding. But seriously, they are the biggest country. What a terrible accident nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteNo amount of safety laws and precautions can keep people from cutting corners to make more money
ReplyDeleteFascinating. Hopefully a photo journalist will pick this up. Would be interesting.
ReplyDelete