Tanzania Plane Crash Leaves 19 Dead

Facts

• On Sunday, at least 19 people died when a Precision Air flight — Tanzania's largest privately-owned airline — crashed into Lake Victoria, reportedly due to storms and heavy rains. The plane, carrying 43 people, was attempting to land at a nearby airport in the lakeside town of Bukoba.
• The flight took off from Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam. The airline had initially reported 26 survivors but later revised the number to 24. A funeral service was held in Bukoba on Monday.
• The ATR-42 airplane, manufactured by French-Italian firm ATR, was carrying 39 passengers, two pilots, and two cabin crew. Precision Air, founded in 1993, is partly owned by Kenyan Airways and operates domestic, regional, and private charters to tourist areas like Serengeti National Park.
• Family members awaiting passengers witnessed the crash, after which fishermen were reportedly the first to arrive on the scene to help survivors escape through a rear door. Emergency workers, with the help of locals, also attempted to lift the plane out of the water via cranes and ropes.
• Kagera province police Commander William Mwampaghale said, "When the aircraft was about 100 meters [328 feet] midair, it encountered problems and bad weather" before plunging into Africa's largest lake.
• The crash comes five years after 11 people – two Americans, two Germans, six Tanzanians, and a South African pilot – died in a plane that crashed in the country's Ngorongoro National Park.

Sources: Business Insider, CNN, Daily Mail, Guardian, and Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Citizen. This is the third deadly plane crash in Tanzania since 1999, and it's time for the government to consider reconfiguring its emergency response protocol for such events. With Tanzanians' justified anger over Sunday's forced improvised rescue effort, improvements in both the public and private sectors must be made.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Tanzania Times. This tragedy was the result of unfortunate bad weather. Thankfully the veteran pilot correctly chose to crash in the lake, most likely saving more lives than if he had crashed on land. The airline will now conduct a thorough investigation to prevent a repeat of this incident, and the rescue efforts that saved many lives should be commended.