On 22 August 2020, a South West Aviation An-26 turboprop aircraft crashed upon taking off from Juba Airport in Juba, South Sudan, for a domestic cargo charter flight to Aweil and to Wau, South Sudan. Background South West Aviation Co. Ltd. founded in 2017, is a passenger and cargo airline based in Juba, South Sudan. The airline was responsible for the fatal crash of an L-410 Turbolet in Juba in 2018. In the aftermath of that accident, President Salva Kiir banned aircraft greater than 20 years of age from operating passenger flights. Accident The antonov AN-26 freighter registration EX-126 (MSN 11508) performing a charter flight from Juba to Wau with 6 passengers and 3 crew lost height shortly after departure from Juba runway and impacted a farm about from the runway. Eyewitnesses report that the aircraft suddenly lost power and crashed in the Hai Referendum residential area. Weather is not believed to be a factor. 8 people in the aircraft (3 South Sudanese, and 5 Russians) were killed. There was one reported survivor who was taken to a hospital in critical condition. According to South Sudanese Transport Minister Madut Biar Yol there were five crew members, all Russian nationals. According to early reports, the plane crashed into a residential area. It burned as residents approached it. Some reports indicated the aircraft was on a charter flight for the World Food Programme (WFP) when it crashed, and was carrying spare parts, motorbikes, food, as well as NGO staff salaries, though the WFP subsequently clarified that the aircraft had in fact been chartered by Galaxy Star International, a local company that provides services to the WFP and other UN agencies. Reactions South Sudanese president Salva Kiir called upon the Ministry of Transportation to "adhere to international standards" when assessing the airworthiness of aircraft adding "I know that it is hard to cope with the tragedy of this nature, but let us work hard to find the cause of this accident and use the lessons learned from it to prevent the occurrence of similar tragedies in the future". See also 2015 Juba An-12 crash 2019 Busy Bee Congo crash 2020 Chuhuiv An-26 crash Other crashes in residential areas El Al Flight 1862 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 External links 2020 in South Sudan August 2020 events in South Sudan Aviation accidents and incidents in 2020 Aviation accidents and incidents in South Sudan History