A Boeing 737-300 carrying 85 people caught fire and skidded off the runway at Senegal’s main airport near the capital Dakar. The country’s transport minister announced Thursday that 10 people, including the pilot, were injured in the crash.
Passengers were evacuated from a burning plane at Blaise Diagne International Airport, with some saying there was “complete panic” as they feared for their lives.
The Air Senegal flight operated by Transair was en route to Bamako in neighboring Mali late Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants on board when the accident occurred. The airport is located approximately 50 miles from Dakar.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to catch fire and slide off the runway. The minister added that the injured were being treated at a hospital while others were resting in a hotel.
Cheik Sillimane Sissoko, a Malian musician who filmed the passenger’s ordeal on his mobile phone, watched as passengers jumped off the emergency slide into the night as one side of the plane was engulfed in flames and screams could be heard all around. he said.
“I saw my life flashing before my eyes,” he said. “I thought about my mother, my wife and my children,” Sissoko, 39, told The Associated Press from a hotel where passengers were recovering from shock.
“There was complete panic during the evacuation as only one side of the slide was open,” he added.
An Air Senegal Boeing 737-700 is pictured on the tarmac in front of the hangar that houses the company’s headquarters on April 27, 2009. Air Senegal suspended all Dakar-Dakar flights four days ago amid an ownership dispute stemming from financial difficulties. Royal Air Maroc is the majority shareholder of the company. (GEORGES GOBET/AFP via Getty Images)
Ibrahim Diallo, 20, a Malian national who was on the plane, said the plane had attempted to take off earlier that night but had failed.
“The pilot told us everything was under control and he was going to try to take off again,” he told The Associated Press. “The second time, smoke started coming out of one of the wings.”
Boeing referred all requests for comment to airlines.
“Airlines operate and maintain aircraft for 30 to 40 years or more,” the statement said. “For any questions you may have regarding fleet operations, we will refer you to each operator. We will provide support based on your needs.”
Senegal Airlines did not respond to requests for comment, but posted a statement on social media platform X saying the flight between Dakar and Bamako had been rescheduled to a later date, without providing further details.
This was the third accident involving a Boeing plane this week. Also on Thursday, Turkey’s Transport Ministry said 190 people were safely evacuated from a plane that burst one of its tires while landing at an airport in southern Turkey.
The company has been under intense pressure since a door plug on a Boeing 737 Max blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. In February, the Federal Aviation Administration gave Boeing 90 days to fix quality problems after the crash and come up with a plan to meet safety standards for aircraft manufacturing.
The incidents have brought scrutiny of Boeing to the highest level since two Boeing 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Roughly a dozen relatives of passengers killed in the second crash are asking the U.S. government to reinstate criminal fraud charges against Boeing, ruling that it violated the terms of a 2021 settlement.
In April, Boeing whistleblower Sam Salepour testified in a Congressional hearing that the company cut manufacturing corners that could have led to jetliner damage in order to produce the 787 as quickly as possible. .
The Aviation Safety Network, which tracks aviation accidents, said the plane in Senegal was a Boeing 737-38J delivered in the 1990s. The network published a photo on X of the damaged plane in a grassy field surrounded by fire extinguisher foam. Photos showed that one engine appeared to be broken and the wing was also damaged.
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The network is part of the Flight Safety Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting safe air travel and tracking accidents.
