Gomair plane chartered by Congo’s electoral commission crashes near Kinshasa – reports

Gomair’s An-26 plane, which had been chartered by the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has crashed on approach to Kinshasa Airport, International Flight Network (IFN) reported Friday. The aircraft departed from Tshikapa, in the southwest of the DRC, about 700km (435 miles) away from Kinshasa, on December 20. It didn’t arrive at its destination after being cleared to descend to 5000 feet about 35km (22 miles) away from the destination airport, according to the report. Shortly afterwards, the plane disappeared from radar screens. There were reportedly three crew members, one loadmaster and 400kg of freight on board the plane, IFN said, adding that no survivors have been found so far. Gomair lost contact with the cargo plane on Thursday evening as it was flying back to Kinshasa after delivering materials for the upcoming presidential election, Reuters reported, saying that it was not immediately clear how many people were on board.