A plane that belonged to TAROM was involved in a serious accident at Dakar airport. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, with a Romanian co-pilot at the helm, went off the runway during take-off.
11 people were injured, including the Romanian co-pilot, who had to jump out of the window to save himself. The aircraft was on its way to Mali when, due to a malfunction, it failed to lift off the ground.
The passengers were urgently evacuated on slides. The incident led to the closure of the airport near Dakar.
The airport operator announced that an investigation had been opened to determine the exact cause of the accident.
It is the third serious incident in the last two days involving Boeing planes.
The Romanian co-pilot, among the injured passengers
“About a Boeing 737, 300 series aircraft, approximately 30 years old, which was in the TAROM fleet until recently. The aircraft was sold to the Senegalese by the TAROM company through a company in the United Arab Emirates.
It is about the Transair Senegal flight that was going to arrive in Mali, in the city of Bamako. They had 73 passengers on board. At the time of take off, that’s when this accident happened.
Practically, at the moment of take-off, the flight crew noticed a malfunction in the hydraulic system and for this it was necessary to initiate the procedure: The aircraft brakes quite strongly. When this brake was initiated by the crew, the aircraft veered to the left in an uncontrolled manner and the left wing of the Boeing touched the ground, subsequently causing an engine fire.
All 73 people on board were evacuated through the slides installed in the aircraft. Unfortunately, one of the injured is the co-pilot who was of Romanian origin,” said Marius Popescu, an aviation specialist.
Tags: Boeing plane belonged TAROM missed takeoff Dakar Romanian copilot passengers injured
