Saturday, May 13, 2006
A Wave of Boutery!
Sunday, April 03, 2005
A Wave of Boutery!
There's been a small upburst of unrelated mystery-jet stories in the last couple of days. For a start, there's the strange case of an Antonov 28, a little light twin with 10 or 12 seats, that turned up in the DR Congo apparently with something called "Butembo Airlines" and fell out with the UN. It ended up being impounded in Kigali for not filing a flight plan and being registered twice: once in Kyrgyzstan and once in the DRC. I can find absolutely no information under EX-28811, the Kyrgyz registration, and only one photo under 9Q-CES, the Congolese one (the photo was taken in Dubai on the 11th of March). But Butembo did have an EX-28810 in 2003, and it was an Antonov 28. I cannot find any more info about that one either, although I have got a serial number for it. The Rwandans demanded of Uganda how they had permitted the plane to pass through Entebbe airport, and the Ugandans denied all knowledge of EX-28811, but admitted clearing 9Q-CES, as if they were two different aircraft. Alex Yearsley of Global Witness asked me whether the plane belongs to VB - I have to say I'm not sure with the information I have, but the profile is convincing. Several suspect operators own An28s, notably Tepaviatrans in Moldova and Goliaf in Sao Tome.
Whatever, it's certainly deeply suspicious. Back in January I ran a post about strange goings-on in Uganda (Viktor Bout: some recent developments), where an Antonov 12 crashed at the old Entebbe airport, run by the army. This led to the revelation that secret flights to the DRC were leaving the old airport, cleared through army channels with the aid of bribery. I wonder whether this particular flight passed through Old Entebbe rather than Entebbe International?
Moving swiftly on, an Antonov 12 operating for something called "RPS" in Dubai was wrecked in a runway excursion at Riyan Mukalla airport in the Yemen. Report below. I wonder why a fireman would ask for anonymity when saying that the aircraft had been heavily damaged? Now, I covered the fact that well-known Viktor Bout line Irbis Air Co. was sending off three flights a night from Sharjah to Riyan some time ago, (SeeViktor Bout: What's Up in the Yemen?). Whether this aircraft is connected or not is not yet clear as I don't have more details. Suffice it to say that there is no known airline called RPS (there is a division of FedEx in the US, but this seems irrelevant). Royal Airlines, a Pakistani firm that charters out known Boutco British Gulf International's fleet of An12s, has the ICAO code RPK, though. BGIA's aircraft chartered to Royal often turn up in Dubai although they live down the road in Sharjah. The aircraft was supposedly loaded with 17 tons of "fish" - whatever kind of fish they were, it seems they burned well. The accident seems to have started as a rejected take-off (RTO), but the plane ran 400 metres off the runway (a 10,000 foot runway - which ought to have been enough room to stop an An12) and caught fire. This photo (See below) taken recently in the capital Sanaa shows an Ilyushin 18 with Renan Air titles - a well known gun running outfit registered in Moldova.
From the same paper, we learn who might want a load of exploding fish in Yemen. Thanks to Soj for the hint.
comments? | x
CW @ 4:03AM | 2005-04-04| permalink
That's some good info Alex.
Viktor had a couple of An-28s in Africa a few years ago - he was flying them out of his base in Rwanda, I think.
CW @ 4:05AM | 2005-04-04| permalink
I think 9Q-CES was one of his, now that I think about it: 9Q-CES, Air Cess, etc.
Original: http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2005/04/wave-of-boutery.html
____________________________________________________________________________________
Cargo Plane Skids Off Runway in Yemen, Eight Hurt
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News —
SANAA, 2 April 2005 — A cargo plane skidded off runway as the pilot aborted takeoff at a Yemeni airport late Thursday, injuring eight crewmembers.
The accident occurred at Al-Rayyan International Airport in Mukalla, 800 km east of the capital Sanaa.
Eight crewmembers — six Russians and two Somalis — sustained injuries on board the Russian-made Antonov-12 operated by the Dubai-based RPS air freight company, an air traffic control official said. Their condition is not serious, according to airport officias.
The plane, bound for Dubai, came off the runway after the pilot aborted its takeoff, the airport’s director, Abdullah Al-Shabibi, told the official Saba news agency.
“The pilot lost control upon takeoff and the plane skidded off the runway,” he said.
The aircraft, which was carrying 17 tons of fish, stopped nearly 400 meters beyond the end of the runway. It was preparing to fly to Dubai after a short stop in Mukalla for refueling, the Yemeni official said.
The plane caught fire minutes after it came off the runway, but fire teams managed to put out the blaze, rescuers said.
One rescuer, who asked not to be named, told Arab News that the plane “sustained heavy damage” and that it could not fly.
The airport reopened for traffic early yesterday.
Original: http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=61437&d=2&m=4&y=2005&hl=Cargo%20Plane%20Skids%20Off%20Runway%20in%20Yemen,%20Eight%20Hurt
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Click to enlarge
____________________________________________________________________________________
A Wave of Boutery!
There's been a small upburst of unrelated mystery-jet stories in the last couple of days. For a start, there's the strange case of an Antonov 28, a little light twin with 10 or 12 seats, that turned up in the DR Congo apparently with something called "Butembo Airlines" and fell out with the UN. It ended up being impounded in Kigali for not filing a flight plan and being registered twice: once in Kyrgyzstan and once in the DRC. I can find absolutely no information under EX-28811, the Kyrgyz registration, and only one photo under 9Q-CES, the Congolese one (the photo was taken in Dubai on the 11th of March). But Butembo did have an EX-28810 in 2003, and it was an Antonov 28. I cannot find any more info about that one either, although I have got a serial number for it. The Rwandans demanded of Uganda how they had permitted the plane to pass through Entebbe airport, and the Ugandans denied all knowledge of EX-28811, but admitted clearing 9Q-CES, as if they were two different aircraft. Alex Yearsley of Global Witness asked me whether the plane belongs to VB - I have to say I'm not sure with the information I have, but the profile is convincing. Several suspect operators own An28s, notably Tepaviatrans in Moldova and Goliaf in Sao Tome.
Whatever, it's certainly deeply suspicious. Back in January I ran a post about strange goings-on in Uganda (Viktor Bout: some recent developments), where an Antonov 12 crashed at the old Entebbe airport, run by the army. This led to the revelation that secret flights to the DRC were leaving the old airport, cleared through army channels with the aid of bribery. I wonder whether this particular flight passed through Old Entebbe rather than Entebbe International?
Moving swiftly on, an Antonov 12 operating for something called "RPS" in Dubai was wrecked in a runway excursion at Riyan Mukalla airport in the Yemen. Report below. I wonder why a fireman would ask for anonymity when saying that the aircraft had been heavily damaged? Now, I covered the fact that well-known Viktor Bout line Irbis Air Co. was sending off three flights a night from Sharjah to Riyan some time ago, (SeeViktor Bout: What's Up in the Yemen?). Whether this aircraft is connected or not is not yet clear as I don't have more details. Suffice it to say that there is no known airline called RPS (there is a division of FedEx in the US, but this seems irrelevant). Royal Airlines, a Pakistani firm that charters out known Boutco British Gulf International's fleet of An12s, has the ICAO code RPK, though. BGIA's aircraft chartered to Royal often turn up in Dubai although they live down the road in Sharjah. The aircraft was supposedly loaded with 17 tons of "fish" - whatever kind of fish they were, it seems they burned well. The accident seems to have started as a rejected take-off (RTO), but the plane ran 400 metres off the runway (a 10,000 foot runway - which ought to have been enough room to stop an An12) and caught fire. This photo (See below) taken recently in the capital Sanaa shows an Ilyushin 18 with Renan Air titles - a well known gun running outfit registered in Moldova.
From the same paper, we learn who might want a load of exploding fish in Yemen. Thanks to Soj for the hint.
comments? | x
CW @ 4:03AM | 2005-04-04| permalink
That's some good info Alex.
Viktor had a couple of An-28s in Africa a few years ago - he was flying them out of his base in Rwanda, I think.
CW @ 4:05AM | 2005-04-04| permalink
I think 9Q-CES was one of his, now that I think about it: 9Q-CES, Air Cess, etc.
Original: http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2005/04/wave-of-boutery.html
____________________________________________________________________________________
Cargo Plane Skids Off Runway in Yemen, Eight Hurt
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News —
SANAA, 2 April 2005 — A cargo plane skidded off runway as the pilot aborted takeoff at a Yemeni airport late Thursday, injuring eight crewmembers.
The accident occurred at Al-Rayyan International Airport in Mukalla, 800 km east of the capital Sanaa.
Eight crewmembers — six Russians and two Somalis — sustained injuries on board the Russian-made Antonov-12 operated by the Dubai-based RPS air freight company, an air traffic control official said. Their condition is not serious, according to airport officias.
The plane, bound for Dubai, came off the runway after the pilot aborted its takeoff, the airport’s director, Abdullah Al-Shabibi, told the official Saba news agency.
“The pilot lost control upon takeoff and the plane skidded off the runway,” he said.
The aircraft, which was carrying 17 tons of fish, stopped nearly 400 meters beyond the end of the runway. It was preparing to fly to Dubai after a short stop in Mukalla for refueling, the Yemeni official said.
The plane caught fire minutes after it came off the runway, but fire teams managed to put out the blaze, rescuers said.
One rescuer, who asked not to be named, told Arab News that the plane “sustained heavy damage” and that it could not fly.
The airport reopened for traffic early yesterday.
Original: http://www.arabnews.com/services/print/print.asp?artid=61437&d=2&m=4&y=2005&hl=Cargo%20Plane%20Skids%20Off%20Runway%20in%20Yemen,%20Eight%20Hurt
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Click to enlarge
____________________________________________________________________________________
# posted by Always @ 8:45 AM 
