The Gabon government will hold a judicial review into the fatal 8 June Gabon Express BAe 748 Series 2A crash near Libreville. The government has also disclosed that the aircraft was uninsured and it decided to ground all privately operated commercial transport aircraft in the country for three days from 15 June.
The Rolls-Royce Dart-powered twin-turboprop (TR-LFW) had just taken off from Libreville, Gabon on a flight to Franceville in the far south east of the country when it suffered engine problems and turned back.
The crew had to ditch just offshore about 3km (1.6nm) from the airport. Eleven of the 30 people on board were rescued and taken to hospital, but 19 died in the accident. A total of four crew and 26 passengers were on board.
The Gabon prime minister Jean Francois Ntoutoume announced the grounding, and transport and civil aviation minister Paulette Missambo confirmed the aircraft was not insured.
The aircraft, a 37-year-old example, was one of two BAe 748s the airline operated.
Source: Flight International
