200 sucked out of plane
By Robert Jobson, Evening Standard
9 May 2003
At least 200 passengers are feared dead after they were sucked out of a plane at 7,000 feet when a door opened.
The Russian-made aircraft suffered a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure which caused a "terrifying vacuum" while flying over Congo.
The pilot managed to land the plane but none of the passengers who had boarded were left.
"Everything inside was sucked out and the passengers did not have a chance," said an aviation official in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. He added: "Everybody is presumed dead."
The plane had been chartered by the Congolese army to fly from Kinshasa to Lubumbashi, Congo's second biggest city which is home to a large military base.
The IL-76 military transport aircraft was being used to carry army personnel and their families.
Congo's minister for peace, Vital Kamerhe, confirmed that a cargo door had opened. An official said: "The pressure system broke down. There was a dramatic de-pressurisation."
The IL-76 is a medium-range aircraft, also known by its Nato codename Candid. It was developed for transporting cargo, dropping paratroopers and moving troops and military hardware.
It has huge doors which appear to have failed in the disaster on the flight out of Kinshasa. The four-engined Il-76 is a versatile transport aircraft widely used in Africa, the Middle East, India and China. It remains in service despite its age because of the shortage of cargo aircraft worldwide.
