On 11/26/2009 10:01:18 PM, Anonymous in Unspecified said:
When will the safety board have their final report on the cause of the Mali plane crash with 9 on board? Will the results be disclosed?


On 11/23/2009 8:04:06 PM, Roger Pociask in Greensboro, NC - Windhoek, Namibia said:
FYI You may find this local report of the Mali crash helpful during the investigation into what happened. http://tinyurl.com/y8s59va. [Original article in French linked here.]

It is a French-to-English translation.

No offense taken by me if the command chooses not to publish this comment for OpSec reasons. Also please let me know if ANYTHING I ever publish online regarding AFRICOM puts US troops at risk and I will cease immediately. I am often critical but hope my words prompt due diligence within the command. I never want to [con]tribute to placing US soldiers in harms way.

Mali Crash landing of an American plane towards Kolokani West Africa: Mali Security - One can speak about a true miracle. An American plane was crushed in our country without causing losses in human life.

The crash landing occurred close to Tarakigné, a village located at about thirty kilometers of Kolokani and at more than 100 kilometers of Bamako.

The transporting apparatus of the American nationals was crushed in the forest, to approximately a thousand of meters of the village.
Our team of report arrived on the place of the accident Thursday around midnight, on the heels of the agents of Civil protection dispatched on the spot.

But the team of rescue of the embassy from the United States in Bamako was already there. Some vehicles and an ambulance belonging to the embassy were been parked to a hundred meters of the place of the crash landing. The agents of Civil protection arrived with all their equipment trucks, ambulances and medical personnel were immediately placed at the disposal of the victims of the accident.

A certain febrility was palpable within the rescue squad of what one supposes being US Africa Command military Command centre of the United States for Africa . She wanted to answer none of our questions.

The soldiers of our army who were deployed at the sides of the Americans did not have any information or were held with silence. Not a word thus on the circumstances of the accident, the source of the plane, still the hour to which the crash landing occurred or the profile of the occupants of the apparatus.

"One said to us to come to assist the victims. It is what we are making. It is all", will say the chief of the operations laconically on the spot, ordering it Aly Bagayoko, of the air force. "They said that the passengers consist of civilians and soldiers and that they were in Mali to train soldiers", entrusted another soldier a little more loquacious.

On the place of the accident, one could see the damaged apparatus. The right wing completion embedded testifies to the violence of the shock. Curiously, no fuel trace was visible. The fact that the kerosene was not spread undoubtedly prevented that the apparatus takes fire. Thus, its occupants could be saved, in spite of the distance and the difficult access of the zone, which delayed the arrival of the helps.

According to testimonys of the inhabitants of the village of Tarakigné, the accident occurred Thursday around 3 p.m. "We saw a plane which flew at low altitude to the top of our heads, an inhabitant testifies. Then we do not have anything any more considering. They are only a few hours after we saw arriving of the vehicles with of Toubabs on board". "They were guided by Pasteur of the church of Kolokani, whose they had requested the assistance", another ensures.

Around one hour of the morning, the American team of rescue shouldered by that of the Civil protection of Bamako and Kati, had finished taking on board the last casualty extracted the plane. The [con]voy then put the course on Bamako. The casualties were allowed with the Pasteur private clinic, located at the ACI 2000.

A.C. DIA

Rise n°16575 of November 23, 2009


On 11/22/2009 5:32:43 PM, Roger Pociask in Greensboro, NC/Windhoek, Namibia said:
Considering OpSec as first priority of course, is the command able to disclose the type of aircraft and the nature of the mission in Mali during this incident? Thank You

On 11/23/2009 11:45:10 AM, AFRICOM Public Affairs responded

Roger,

The passengers and crew were on a routine mission to conduct coordination for future capacity-building military training engagements. For operational security and force protection reasons we do not discuss the type of aircraft involved in this incident.