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How do you say nope in Somalia?
A man in Somalia reportedly died after being sucked out of a plane at 11,000 feet when an explosion rocked the plane, tearing a hole in the fuselage.
The flight, operated by Hermes Airlines, departed Mogadishu Airport in Somalia yesterday on its way to Djibouti.
The pilots were safely able to navigate the plane back to the ground, but a man went through the hole the blast made.
Daallo Airlines wrote on its Facebook page that a plane operated by Hermes Airlines was headed for Djibouti when there was “an incident shortly after take-off.” The aircraft was carrying 74 passengers, according to the airline.
“The Aircraft landed safely and all of our passengers were evacuated safely,”it said. “A thorough investigation is being conducted by Somalia Civil Aviation Authority.”
But [Vlatko] Vodopivec, the pilot, said: “We were told one person was sucked out of the plane, but that is still not confirmed.”
Reuters also reported that a body was “believed to have been sucked out of the plane.”
According to the Associated Press, a body that may be the passenger was discovered.
Mohamed Hassan, a police officer in Balad, an agricultural town 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) north of Mogadishu, said residents had found the dead body of a man who might have fallen from the plane.
Daallo Airlines said all passengers except one got off the plane safely, but did not elaborate. It previously said the plane carried 74 passengers.
The experience, obviously, sounds horrific.
Cellphone video taken aboard the plane pans from passengers, some wearing oxygen masks, in seats toward the back of the airliner in flight, and then swivels to the empty front area with a hole in the side of the cabin. There is a loud sound of rushing air. The video was taken by Awale Kullane, Somalia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations.
The passengers bunched in the back appear calm. A child wearing an oxygen mask attached to the overhead compartment sits quietly, a blanket covering the legs. Near the hole, oxygen masks dangle and sway from overhead compartments.
Kullane, who shot the video aboard the plane, said on Facebook that he “heard a loud noise and couldn’t see anything but smoke for a few seconds.” When visibility returned he realized “a chunk” of the plane was missing.
“I think for the first few seconds and minutes … I was terrified and most people were terrified,” he later said. “Of course we give credit to the pilot who landed that plane.”
Fuck. Though it has not been confirmed to be a bomb blast, the pilot seemed sure.
“It was my first bomb. I hope it will be the last.”
I imagine every passenger said the same.
[Via The Washington Post]