Air Zimbabwe plane crashes into bush pig

Harare, 09 Dec-(ANA)-An Air Zimbabwe 60-seater has crashed after hitting a bush pig on take off.

A statement from the Transport Ministry said the nose, wingtip and a propeller of the plane were damaged.

A letter from a public-spirited passenger revealed that the incident was far more serious than the ministry had admitted.

Fambai Ngirande said that it was “by God’s grace” that he and the other 37 passengers and crew on board the flight to the western city of Bulawayo had not all perished.

It was plain, he said, that the airline had “no disaster response strategy” and its personnel “did not have a clue” of what to do in a crisis.

“The plane was just about to lift off when we heard a loud bang from underneath followed by violent shaking of the entire aircraft,” wrote Mr Ngirande.

“The aircraft veered off the runway into the grass before it came to a halt. Smoke and dust engulfed the cabin as passengers screamed for dear life.”

With a petrified hostess shrieking “Evacuate!”, they discovered that one of the emergency exits was jammed. Passengers were able to jump out of the stricken plane after the main doors were laboriously opened.

The Transport Ministry had said that two people were injured “after evacuation”. This, Mr Ngirande explained, was after passengers sprinted away from the plane but crashed blindly into ditches on the dark airfield.

Mr Ngirande’s flight had been delayed by the departure of the personal jet of the Congolese President, Joseph Kabila. “It doesn't bear thinking about if the bushpig had run into Kabila’s plane,” said another passenger, who asked not to be named. (ANA)

FA/ANA/09 November 2009---