{"id":23642,"date":"2026-02-11T15:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T13:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/passenger-describes-panic-on-board-plane-that-crash-landed-in-somalia\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:34:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:34:24","slug":"passenger-describes-panic-on-board-plane-that-crash-landed-in-somalia","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/passenger-describes-panic-on-board-plane-that-crash-landed-in-somalia\/","title":{"rendered":"Passenger describes panic on board plane that crash landed in Somalia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">A 70-year-old passenger on a plane that crashed on the seashore in Somalia&#8217;s capital described horror and panic on board before the aircraft made a dramatic landing in knee-deep water, with all crew and travellers unharmed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The plane, a Fokker 50 operated by Starsky Aviation, sustained an unspecified technical issue soon after takeoff on Tuesday. It was forced to return to Mogadishu&#8217;s Aden Adde International Airport, where it skidded off the runway, only coming to a stop near the seashore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Pictures posted on social media showed passengers exiting the plane and walking in shallow water after the pilot urged them to escape quickly, in case of fire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The Somali Civil Aviation Authority said all 55 people on board the plane were taken to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation and care. The pilot has been praised by the airline for his quick thinking and for remaining calm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Passenger Mohamed Hussein Odowa told\u00a0<i>Reuters<\/i> on Wednesday the plane had been airborne for just a few minutes when the captain announced that the flight would have to return to the airport due to unspecified defects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;Stay calm and keep your belts tightened,&#8221; he recalled the plane&#8217;s crew telling passengers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">As the engines started to sputter, terrified passengers began reading the Quran, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;It landed, hitting the runway but (then) sped madly and we understood the pilot was unable to stop the plane, no brake control,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Even as one of the wings smashed against a hillock, the aircraft kept going until it finally stopped along the seashore.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;The plane stopped in the ocean at knee-deep water and the two doors got opened,&#8221; Odowa said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;The pilot shouted &#8216;Get out quickly. I was among the oldest passengers but all of a sudden I was outside with my bag, thank God.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The civil aviation authority did not immediately provide further details on the cause of the incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20639,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-23642","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The plane, a Fokker 50 operated by Starsky Aviation, sustained an unspecified technical issue.","published_date":null,"news_description":"The plane, a Fokker 50 operated by Starsky Aviation, sustained an unspecified technical issue.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26544,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23642\/revisions\/26544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}