19 killed in Precision Air crash as flight goes down in Lake Victoria, Tanzania

Photo Reuters

According to the latest reports as many as 19 people have been killed in a Precision Air flight that crash-landed in Lake Victoria during bad weather during an approach to Bukoba, Tanzania, just before 9am this morning. 

Originally it was reported by the state broadcaster that three people had died in the crash, with scores taken to a local hospital.  It isn't clear if some of those are included in the death toll currently announced by Prime minister Kassim Majaliwa.  

A  Precision Air spokesperson advised flight PW494 from the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam to Bukoba had been involved in an accident as it came into land at 08.53 this morning, local time. The aircraft, registered as 5H-PWF, was an ATR42-500 and was carrying some 39 passengers including an infant at the time of the crash.  There were also four crew members on the aircraft and the airline says the names of passengers and crew on board the aircraft will not be released until all next-of-kin have been notified

The spokesperson advised, "Precision Air extends its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the passenger and crew involved in this tragic accident. The company will strive to provide them with information and whatever assistance they will require in this difficult time. "

In 2006, the airline embarked on a fleet modernization programme that saw it sign a contract with ATR for seven brand-new state-of-the-art aircraft. The last of the seven aircraft arrived in September 2010. In 2012 Precision Air embarked on another fleet modernization programme which saw Precision Air become the first airline in the world to operate ATR 42-600.  The current fleet consists of, Five 70 seater ATR 72-500, Three 48 seater ATR 42-500 and 1 48 seater ATR 42-600.

The airline was established in 1993 as a private charter air company operating a five-seater Piper Aztec aircraft. Its initial line of business mainly entailed providing connections to tourists visiting the rich natural attractions of Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, in northern Tanzania, the Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the country from Arusha town as its base.

The vast nature of Tanzania coupled with a growing demand for air transport services as the country started to embrace a free market economy soon drove Precision Air into operating scheduled flights maintaining Arusha as its base. The first flights were scheduled using a seven-seater one engine Cessna 207, one seven-seater Cessna 402, two eleven-seater Cessna 404s and the nineteen-seater LET 410 until mid-1990s when the airline introduced the bigger and more comfortable ATR fleet.