Fly540 Fokker F-27 plane crash
Mogadishu, Somalia
Updated on
The Fokker F-27 belonging to Fly540 took off from an airport in Kenya, carrying a cargo of khat to Somalia. Destination was K-50 Airport, located about 50 km southwest of Mogadishu. 3 crewmembers were onboard. The plane crashed on approach to Mogadishu. All three on board perished.
The weather was poor as the airplane arrived near K-50. A lot of humidity was around the airport, impairing visibility. The airplane was seen approaching the airport twice and going around before colliding with a telecommunication antenna owned by «Nationlink Telecom» about 2 kilometres from the airstrip, and crashing.
The plane was carrying 5.4 tonnes of khat (khat is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula - In 1980 the World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychological dependence).
Fly540 is currently on the blacklist of airlines banned from flying in the European Union.