the following:We had taken off after taxiing for three minutes. At once, I noted that the plane started to pitch. The effort of the pilot to right the plane remained vain. At this point in time the stewardess told me to put on my seat belt. At that time, the plane started to fly low and it struck a palm tree and lost a wing. Then it started to strike houses. All the parcels of goods which were on board shifted toward the front of the plane. I noticed beside me a hole by which I left without knowing how, and I fell into a mud puddle. I then could contemplate the flames which consumed the plane. It was not about excess weight. It's a simple mechanical failure. Aftermath The crash was similar to the 1996 Air Africa crash, which also involved an Antonov An-32 overshooting the runway (albeit at Kinshasa's other airport N'Dolo) with massive casualties on the ground. The DRC has an aviation safety track record that has been dubbed "an embarrassment" by the IATA, and the Transport Minister Rémy Henri Kuseyo Gatanga was fired by the President for culpable negligence in failing to enforce adequate standards and procedures for aviation safety management. One source indicates that the lifting of the Transport Minister's ban on Antonov flights over DRC territory was not by his order but rather that of the Minister of State to the Head of State. A formal Parliamentary commission of inquiry was convened 19 October 2007, with Jean-Lucien Bussa as president and Lessendjina as vice-president. The prosecutor's office of N'Djili is seized of the matter. Notwithstanding the ban, another Antonov (this one an An-12 registered as ER-AXI) was reported by Radio Okapi to have had a minor motor fire at Bangoka International Airport at Kisangani early in the afternoon of 1 November 2007. No injuries and minor damage were reported. Three months after the crash, Moscow offered US$200,000 in economic aid to the injured parties. See also 2002 Africa One Antonov An-26 crash References Accidents and incidents involving the Antonov An-26 2007 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Aviation accidents and incidents in 2007 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo October 2007 events in Africa