Too Close for Comfort

Unbelievable! I was flying from Kinshasa to Kananga on Wednesday, too. I did not hear about the crash until Thursday night. As I was reading my Google News Alert, I came across news of the crash. News does not travel far in the Congo. Seven died in Congo plane crash -minister (http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSLU989857) Seven people died in Wednesday's plane crash in Democratic Republic of Congo, its transport minister said on Thursday. The Boeing 737 was flying from Bangui, capital of Central African Republic (CAR), to Zimbabwe for a maintenance check and was carrying crew and mechanics when it crashed around 210 km (125 miles) east of Kinshasa. "There were two crew members aboard as well as five mechanics, who were accompanying the plane ... There were no survivors," Transport Minister Matthieu Pita told Reuters. Pita said the plane had made a brief stopover in neighbouring Congo Republic and was registered in Central African Republic. He said the crew had not notified aviation authorities in Kinshasa of their flight plan and the plane's owner was still unknown. The government in CAR issued a statement on Thursday confirming the deaths, saying the two crew members were from Congo Republic while others killed were from France, CAR, Zimbabwe and Cameroon. The plane belonged to a CAR-based company called BAKO AIR and had been in and out of service in recent years, the government in Bangui said. According to the International Air Transport Association, Africa's air accident rate is six times worse than the rest of the world.