2008 Blue Wing Airlines An-28 crash

03°41′N 054°05′W / 3.683°N 54.083°W / 3.683; -54.083

Benzdorp An-28 crash
A Blue Wing Airlines Antonov An-28 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date11:00, April 3, 2008 (2008-04-03T11:00)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SiteLawa Antino Airstrip,
Benzdorp, Suriname
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAntonov An-28
OperatorBlue Wing Airlines
official site
RegistrationPZ-TSO
Flight originZorg en Hoop Airport,
Paramaribo, Suriname
StopoverLawa Antino Airport,
ICAO code SMAN
Benzdorp, Suriname
DestinationLawa Antino Airport of Benzdorp in Suriname
Passengers17
Crew2
Fatalities19
Survivors0

On Thursday, April 3, 2008, an Antonov An-28 operated by Blue Wing Airlines (registration PZ-TSO[1]) crashed upon landing at Lawa Antino Airport in Benzdorp, Suriname.[2][3] The plane carried 17 passengers and a crew of 2, all of whom perished.[4] The crash occurred around 11:00 am ART (14:00 UTC). Initial media reports indicated that the airplane had to abort the landing, as the runway was being used by another Bluewing AN-28 aircraft. [5] The airplane attempted a go-around, but failed to gain height and crashed into a mountain.[6]

Casualties

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The pilot, Soeriani Jhauw-Verkuijl, was the wife of Blue Wing Airlines president Amichand Jhauw. Her brother and colleague was an eyewitness to the crash.[6] Also among the casualties was co-pilot Robert Lackin, as well as a family of six from Antecume Pata, citizens of French Guiana.[7][8] They were to have flown on to Anapaike.[6]

A Dutch national police forensic team was dispatched to assist in the identification of victims.[9][10] While nine of the victims were identified in Suriname, the last ten were identified, using DNA analysis, by a Dutch forensic institute.[11]

Flight

[edit]

The plane had taken off from Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo with seventeen passengers and two crew at 10:00 local time.[12] Eleven were due to disembark at Lawa Antino airstrip, 10 km west of the southeastern gold mining town of Benzdorp, near the Lawa River bordering French Guiana.[13] They were preparing to work for telecommunications company Telesur.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Negentien doden bij ongeluk met toestel Blue Wing". Dagblad Suriname. 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  2. ^ "Plane crashes in southern Surinam". BBC News. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ "Twintig doden door vliegtuigramp Suriname" (in Dutch). Nu.nl. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  4. ^ "Vliegramp in Suriname: negentien doden". Trouw (in Dutch). 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  5. ^ Ivan Cairo (2008-04-03). "Twenty feared dead in Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  6. ^ a b c "Vliegtuigcrash in Lawa gebied. Alle 19 inzittenden om het leven gekomen" (in Dutch). Radio10. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  7. ^ "'Motoruitval oorzaak vliegramp Suriname'" (in Dutch). Novum/Elsevier. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  8. ^ Ivan Cairo (2008-04-05). "Authorities launch formal investigation into Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  9. ^ "Nederlands team op weg naar Suriname". Trouw (in Dutch). 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  10. ^ "Nederlandse hulp voor Suriname na vliegramp". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  11. ^ [Suriname plane crash victims identified] 13 May 2008 (in Dutch)
  12. ^ "Forensic teams head to site of Suriname plane crash". Agence France Press. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  13. ^ "Reunion Gold Antino project". Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  14. ^ "Met innige deelneming..." (in Dutch). Telesur. 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.