2008 Blue Wing Airlines An-28 crash

03°41′N 054°05′W / 3.683°N 54.083°W / 3.683; -54.083

Benzdorp An-28 crash
A Blue Wing Airlines Antonov An-28 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date3 April 2008 (2008-04-03)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SiteLawa Antino Airstrip,
Benzdorp, Suriname
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAntonov An-28
OperatorBlue Wing Airlines
RegistrationPZ-TSO
Flight originZorg en Hoop Airport, Paramaribo, Suriname
StopoverLawa Antino Airport, Benzdorp, Suriname
DestinationLawa Antino Airport, Benzdorp, Suriname
Occupants19
Passengers17
Crew2
Fatalities19
Survivors0

On 3 April 2008, a Blue Wing Airlines Antonov An-28 registered as PZ-TSO[1]) crashed upon landing at Lawa Antino Airport in Benzdorp, Suriname.[2][3] The plane carried 17 passengers and a crew of 2, all of whom perished.[4] The crash occurred at around 11:00 am ART (14:00 UTC). Initial media reports indicated that the airplane had to abort the landing, as the runway was being used by another Blue Wing Airlines Anotnov An-28. [5] The airplane attempted a go-around, but failed to gain height and crashed into a mountain.[6]

Casualties

The pilot, Soeriani Jhauw-Verkuijl, was the wife of Blue Wing Airlines president Amichand Jhauw. Her brother and colleague was an eyewitness to the crash.[6] Also among the casualties was co-pilot Robert Lackin, as well as a family of six from Antécume-Pata, citizens of French Guiana.[7][8] They were to have flown on to Anapaike.[6]

A Dutch national police forensic team was dispatched to assist in the identification of victims.[9][10] While nine of the victims were identified in Suriname, the last ten were identified, using DNA analysis, by a Dutch forensic institute.[11]

Flight

The plane had taken off from Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo with seventeen passengers and two crew at 10:00 local time.[12] Eleven were due to disembark at Lawa Antino airstrip, 10 km west of the southeastern gold mining town of Benzdorp, near the Lawa River bordering French Guiana.[13] They were preparing to work for telecommunications company Telesur.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Negentien doden bij ongeluk met toestel Blue Wing". Dagblad Suriname. 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  2. ^ "Plane crashes in southern Surinam". BBC News. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  3. ^ "Twintig doden door vliegtuigramp Suriname" (in Dutch). Nu.nl. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  4. ^ "Vliegramp in Suriname: negentien doden". Trouw (in Dutch). 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  5. ^ Ivan Cairo (3 April 2008). "Twenty feared dead in Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on 26 May 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
  6. ^ a b c "Vliegtuigcrash in Lawa gebied. Alle 19 inzittenden om het leven gekomen" (in Dutch). Radio10. 3 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  7. ^ "'Motoruitval oorzaak vliegramp Suriname'" (in Dutch). Novum/Elsevier. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  8. ^ Ivan Cairo (5 April 2008). "Authorities launch formal investigation into Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  9. ^ "Nederlands team op weg naar Suriname". Trouw (in Dutch). 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  10. ^ "Nederlandse hulp voor Suriname na vliegramp". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  11. ^ [Suriname plane crash victims identified] 13 May 2008 (in Dutch)
  12. ^ "Forensic teams head to site of Suriname plane crash". Agence France Press. 5 April 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  13. ^ "Reunion Gold Antino project". Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
  14. ^ "Met innige deelneming..." (in Dutch). Telesur. 4 April 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2008.