No fewer than two people were confirmed dead on Sunday when a light aircraft crashed into a car as it was attempting to land in high winds at an aerodrome in eastern Belgium, police have disclosed.
The landing failed and the plane collided with a car parked on the road near the aerodrome in Spa, causing both vehicles to burst into flame, local police commander Jean-Michel Lejeune told reporters.
“Unfortunately, we have two people dead in the plane,” Lejeune told reporters. “It seems it was a failed landing.”
The pilot was German but the investigation is ongoing as to the nationality of the passenger, the officer said.
According to media reports, the driver of the vehicle had fortunately stepped out for a cigarette break — which almost certainly saved his life.
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Images on Belgian media show thick black smoke billowing near the runway and the burned-out hulk of the car, as emergency vehicles blocked off the roads.
Environmental protection officers are also reportedly on the scene, to ensure no pollution to the famous spring water bottled in Spa.
Similarly. the airport’s runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria was closed down yesterday, after an Aerocontractors Airlines crash-landed at the airport.
The incident involved a Boeing 733 aircraft with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BYQ.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that the aircraft which was from Lagos arrived in Abuja and in a bid to exit the runway via A4 had its nose wheel stuck in the grass verge with its fuselage on the runway.
“Consequently, the runway was closed pending the towing of the aircraft from the runway,” the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau said in a statement, adding that an investigation has commenced into the “serious incident”.
“There was no injury or fatality,” said a spokesman for the Bureau, James Odaudu.