Juba Air Cargo

Juba Air Cargo is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It was established in 1996 and operates domestic cargo services. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport.cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 99 | date= 2007-04-03]

Code data

*ICAO Code: JUC
*Callsign: Juba Cargo [ [http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/ Airline Codes (November 2006)] ]

History

The airline has been operating since 1997 from its Khartoum base and another in Sharjah and is headed by Bahaa Amin Akaska. [ [http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0506d&L=sudanese&P=559 Indian Ocean Newsletter] 25 June 2005]

Services

Juba Air Cargo operates cargo services to the following destinations :
Khartoum, Juba, Waw and Malakal.

Fleet

As of June 28, 2008 the Juba Air Cargo fleet became zero after the crash of its last remaining AN-12.

*On June 27, 2008, a cargo plane crashed mid-flight, killing seven crew members, including five foreigners. Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Abdel Hafiz told AFP that the Juba Cargo company plane crashed an hour and 10 minutes after take off from Khartoum, bound for the southern Sudanese capital Juba, apparently owing to bad weather.

"One person survived out of eight (crew members), a Sudanese. Two Sudanese were among the dead (along with) four from Ukraine and one from Armenia,"The plane took off at 5:55 am (0255 GMT) and came down north of Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State."A thunderstorm hit the plane, as the survivor said. This apparently is the cause. The survivor is not injured but was taken to hospital (for a check-up)The dead were evacuated and flown back to a Khartoum hospital morgue where police told bereaved relatives that they could not claim the bodies until Saturday, said an AFP photographer.The Sudan Media Centre (SMC) website, which is considered close to the intelligence services, said the Antonov 12 had only recently returned to Sudan after undergoing major maintenance in the United Arab Emirates.

It confirmed that one Armenian, four Ukranians, the Sudanese pilot and another Sudanese were killed, and quoted the survivor -- an air operations officer -- as saying that the plane was hit twice by lightning.An hour and 10 minutes after take off, the pilot contacted the control tower of Khartoum airport and requested permission to fly at a lower altitude because of poor weather conditions, but then suddenly communication was lost, SMC said.

Sudan has a poor aviation record and the crash was the third fatal aviation accident in Africa's biggest country since May 2008.

On June 10, 2008 a Sudan Airways A310 carrying 214 people burst into flames after landing at Khartoum international airport, killing at least 30 people.Airport authorities said an engine caught fire, spreading to the fuselage, while survivors said weather conditions at the time of the landing were poor, owing to a sandstorm followed by heavy showers.Sudan Airways was granted a one-month reprieve from the Civil Aviation Authority over its flight worthiness after an initial announcement that it had been grounded for not meeting international standards.

In May 2008, south Sudan's defence minister was killed in a plane crash along with at least 22 other people, most of them senior members of the southern former rebel leadership.

On the 8th of November 2007 Juba Air Cargo lost the aircraft ST-JUA in an accident at Khartoum International Airport (HSSS) The An-12 cargo plane took off from Khartoum (KRT) around 08:00 in the morning, carrying 11 tons of cargo. One engine failed shortly after takeoff, according to the president of Juba Air Cargo due to bird strike. The airplane returned to land but crash-landed on the military part of the airport. Two soldiers were killed on the ground. The airplane caught fire but the four crew members, three Russians and one Sudanese, escaped.by Jennie Matthew

In July 2003, 115 people were killed when a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 was destroyed in a ball of fire as it attempted to land at Port Sudan after apparently suffering an engine problem soon after takeoff.

After that crash, the Khartoum government said the Sudanese air fleet was growing old as it was unable to buy spare parts for its US-made aircraft due to economic sanctions imposed by Washington.

Previously operated

At August 2006 the airline also operated [Flight International, 3-9 October 2006] :
*1 Ilyushin Il-76TD

External links

* [http://www.jubacargo.com/ Juba Air Cargo]

References