Four Georgian citizens die as Georgian Airways plane crashes in DR Congo

Four Georgian citizens have died in a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday. They were members of the crew of an Airzena - Georgian Airways-owned plane CRJ-100. The plane was transporting 20 UN mission workers, including peacekeepers, UN officials, humanitarian workers and electoral assistants from Goma via Kisangani in north-east Congo, foreign media outlets reported. 32 of all 33 people on board of the plane died, according to the BBC website.

According to the head of the Georgian Airways Public Relations Department, Nino Giorgobiani, the plane crashed at Kinshasa airport while landing in a tropical rain storm. “The plane fell on the runway, broke into two pieces and caught fire,” she said. According to Giorgobiani, the plane had no technical problems. “The last safety check was conducted on December 22,” she noted, adding that the investigation into the reasons of the plane crash is underway.

Later on Tuesday, officials named the identities of the deceased crew members: 22-year-old pilot Suliko Tsutskiridze, technician Albert Manukov, plane commander Aleksi Oganesyan and a crew member Guram Kepuladze.

The identity and the nationality of the sole survivor on board have not been disclosed by the UN officials so far. “We are doing our best to contact Congo officials quickly in order to transport the bodies of the Georgian crew members to their homeland,” Giorgobiani of Airzena said “of course all expenses of transportation and funerals will be covered by Georgian Airways. The representatives of the air company will travel to Congo in the nearest days to study the details of the plane crash and to deal with technical issues needed to transport the bodies of the Georgian citizens,” she added.

Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili conveyed his condolences to the families of the Georgian citizens who died in the plane crash. “President Saakashvili expresses his condolences and support to their families,” President’s press speaker, Manana Manjgaladze said at a briefing on Tuesday “It is important for us to find out what happened and what caused the plane crash. We hope that the investigation will reveal the reasons of this tragedy,” she stated. Georgian Parliament members also paid a tribute to the deceased Georgian citizens with a minute of silence at Tuesday’s session.

According to international media outlets, airplanes “crash frequently” in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The New York Times reported that the accidents happen “often because of poor maintenance.” “The United Nations conducts hundreds of flights a week in Congo, and the flight from Kisangani to Kinshasa, with continuation to the volatile east, is a premier route using some of the most modern aircraft. Even so, the peacekeeping mission often relies on the generosity of donor governments and secondhand aircraft,” the NYT reported.