Coastal Aviation’s light aircraft Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed in the Empakaai area in Tanzania, causing death of the eleven people on board. The aircraft was en route from northern Tanzanian town of Arusha to Serengeti with ten passengers, including four tourists and safari camp personnel, as well as one pilot, when disappeared from radars in forest area in Tanzania.
The search and rescue operation was immediately organized, but access to the remote site had been difficult. Unfortunately after arriving at the scene, the teams only found the aircraft wreck and bodies of the eleven people with fatal injuries. There are some foreigners among the dead, but exact nationalities are not revealed.
“Obviously, we are in shock. This is devastating”, confirmed the Managing Director of Tanzanian air charter company Coastal Aviation, Julian Edmunds. “I fly with our planes regularly. I have the utmost faith in our crew and our equipment. On behalf of the entire team at Coastal, we will be doing everything we can to assist the pending investigation. Nothing is more important to us than passenger safety”, added he.
The investigation for the root cause of the accident is under way. Exact circumstances are still unclear.
The Cessna 208 Caravan is an American single-engined turboprop, fixed-tricycle landing gear, short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft that is built by Cessna.
