Third Accident In Three Days, Sixth This Year

The bodies of all thirteen passengers aboard an Antonov An-26 that went down Friday outside of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo have been recovered, as authorities scrambled to find clues to the second crash of that type -- in that country -- in three days.

The Ukrainian An-26 was registered to neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo's Air Kasai, said DRC Government Spokesman Alain Akoula, quoted by the Brandon Sun newspaper.

The plane was flying from an airstrip in DRC's Equateur province, enroute to the capital of Kinshasa. That route took the aircraft over the eastern territory of the Republic of Congo.

African government officials pulled licenses Friday from dozens of airlines operating in the region, after numerous accidents this year.

As reported in Aero-News earlier this week, another An-26 went down Wednesday in the DRC, killing all eleven passengers onboard. In all, six Soviet-era Antonovs have crashed in the region this year, as well as other types of aircraft operating for Congolese airlines.

According to media reports, some airlines have been flying cargo planes outfitted with plastic chairs for passengers. Such measures were seen as necessary in order to bring badly needed air service to the region, as large as Western Europe but with few roads.

FMI: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cg.html