Plane Crash in South Sudan Claims 20 Lives

On January 29, 2025, a tragic aviation incident occurred in South Sudan when a Beechcraft 1900D aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Unity Oil Field Airport. This devastating event resulted in the loss of 20 lives, leaving only one survivor.

Key Details

Witnesses on the ground reported that one of the aircraft’s wings suffered a structural failure shortly after departure. This failure caused the plane to descend rapidly until it impacted the ground and flipped onto its back.

• The aircraft involved was a Beechcraft 1900D (registration 5X-RHB), leased from Eagle Air and operated by Light Air Services. 
• It was flying a scheduled passenger service from Unity Oil Field Airport to Juba International Airport.
• The plane had 21 souls onboard. (India: 1, China: 2, Uganda: 2, South Sudan: 15)
• The incident occurred at approximately 10:30 local time.
• The aircraft came down approximately 500 meters from the airport after take-off.
• The forward section of the cabin and flight deck bore the brunt of the collision.
• Two passengers were initially pulled alive from the wreckage but badly injured. One of these survivors later succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

Crash investigators will recover the aircraft’s CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and FDR (flight data recorder) and carry out a full investigation into the cause of the crash with final finding being made available to the public once the investigation is concluded.