Explosion on board an A321 minutes after taking off from Mogadishu

[sn26567]

A Daallo Airline Airbus A321 operating flight D3 159 from Mogadishu (MGQ) to Djibouti (JIB) made an emergency landing at Mogadishu today after an explosion soon after takeo-ff from Mogadishu, Somalia.

A loud bang was heard followed by flames, injuring 2 passengers. If it had happened in higher altitude, it would have been an explosive decompression!



Source and more pics: http://www.airlive.net/2016/02/breaking ... 1-few.html

[Passenger]

Airlive.net reports it was a bomb, AvHerald.com suggests an oxygen bottle exploded.

Anyway: aviation will be a safer in the future because we will know for sure what caused this near-disaster.

RIP for the one passenger who died, full recovery for the injured.

[crew1990]

A O2 bottle at this part of the aircraft I don't think so.

[sn26567]

In addition to the two injured passengers, one man might have been "sucked out of plane" at 4000m and have died, according to some reports.

[sn26567]

Investigators believe that it was a bomb that caused a hole in the Daallo A321 jet, US government sources say.

[Passenger]

The Aviation Herald has added new photos:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4934dec0&opt=0

[Homo Aeroportus]

Couldn’t help checking a few things, trying to recap this story.

TK flies daily IST-JIB-MGQ-JIB-IST, leaving IST shortly after midnight. Arriving Djibouti at 06:10L, leaving for Mogadishu at 07:15.

On 02 FEB, TK did not fly the JIB-MGQ leg.
The flight arrived well at 05:44 in JIB but remained there for 7 hours until planned time for the return to IST where it arrived at 18:11L, 16 minutes late.

Must have been a small technical problem that prevented it to fly to Mog and back. 2 ½ hours after her arrival in IST, the same TC-JAI took-off for DUS.

On the other hand, per FlightStats.com, on 02FEB the Daallo (D3) first flew from Jeddah to Mogadishu as D3169, supposedly a direct flight, with STD 04:00L and STA 11:45L.
As JED and MGQ are in the same time zone, this makes a 7h45 flight. Strooong headwinds for a 1230nm (straight line) flight.

Actually, per FR24, D3 flew the same JED-MGQ on 29JAN in four hours, STD 04:00, STA 08:00.

There is no FR24 coverage of the area so just a guess from my side but methinks the JED-MGQ flight on 02FEB made a stopover in Djibouti, which is a “hub” for Daallo, probably to pick up the Mog-bound Pax from TK.
If this is the case, TK reacted very fast to have D3 performing this JIB-MGQ-JIB on their behalf as such short notice.

It is on the way back to JIB as D3159 that the explosion took place, supposedly shortly after 11:00L.
At that time, TK would have been midway (and hence at high altitude) as their STD in MGQ is 10:25, STA 12:25 in JIB.
That TC-JAI went tech on that morning, forcing them to wet-lease the Daallo A321 was very fortunate indeed.

Yes, sometimes you must have a bit of luck.
It reminds me that Friday is Euromillion day.

H.A.

[sn26567]

Interesting analysis, H.A. But I'm pretty sure TK will not confirm

[sn26567]

A blast that punched a large hole in the fuselage of a passenger plane at Somalia's Mogadishu airport on Tuesday was caused by a bomb. "It was a bomb that exploded in the Daallo Airlines flight. It was meant to kill all aboard," Somali Transport Minister Ali Ahmed Jamac said.

Some reports suggest that an explosive device may have been hidden inside a laptop of one of the passengers.

No militant group has so far said it was behind the explosion.

In a statement shortly after the incident, Daallo Airlines said an investigation was launched by Somalia's Civil Aviation Authority, as well as a technical team from the aircraft's owners and its manufacturers, Airbus.

Mohamed Hassan, a police officer in Balad, an agricultural town 30km north of Mogadishu, said residents had found the body of a man who might have fallen from the plane.

Serbian captain Vlatko Vodopivec said at the time he and others were told the explosion was caused by a bomb.
"It was my first bomb; I hope it will be the last,'' Mr Vodopivec said. He said the blast happened when the plane was at around 11,000ft (3,350m).

More from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35513348

[globetrotter]

Makes you wonder if MH17 passengers experienced same, one was found with oxygen mask around his neck.

[Homo Aeroportus]

If Flightstats.com is to be trusted, TK cancelled the leg to Mog ... the day before.

The second entry on Feb1 04:20 UTC concerns the leg JIB-MGQ on 02FEB with STD 07:15L which per 3rd entry in the log was cancelled at 18:18L, 6 hours before take off from IST.
That explains the call in of Daallo to operate on their behalf with the result we know on 02FEB.

Now, if TK had a good reason not to fly themselves into MGQ we can suppose that they passed the intel to the local security.
Can hardly be convinced that the airport security in Mog did an outstanding job.

On the other side one can say that TK is a safe airline indeed.

H.A.

[sn26567]

On the other side one can say that TK is a safe airline indeed.

Sometimes you have to be lucky to remain safe!

[sn26567]

The Daallo Airlines suspected suicide bomber was meant to be on a Turkish Airlines flight, according to Daallo’s CEO Mohamed Yassin today. Homo Aeroportus emitted the idea much earlier

[sn26567]

Somalia's Islamist terror group claims responsibility for plane bombing

Somalia's al Shabaab terrorists said on Saturday they were responsible for a blast that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane last week that the government said was caused by a bomb meant to kill everyone on board.

"Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen carried out the airborne operation as a retribution for the crimes committed by the coalition of Western crusaders and their intelligence agencies against the Muslims of Somalia," it said in an emailed statement.

[Homo Aeroportus]

Three people were killed in a car bomb in Mogadishu last week.
They were bystanders but the car driver, who happened to be just out of his car at that moment, is said to be one of the airport employees caught on video supposedly handing over a laptop to the passenger that left the aircraft at 10 000 feet. Rest in pieces.

The airport employees is being questioned by the police.

H.A.