03°41′N 054°05′W / 3.683°N 54.083°W
On Thursday, April 3, 2008, an Antonov An-28 operated by Blue Wing Airlines (registration PZ-TSO[1]) crashed upon landing at Lawa Antino Airport in Benzdorp, Suriname.[2][3] The plane carried 17 passengers and a crew of 2, all of whom perished.[4] The crash occurred around 11:00 am ART (14:00 UTC). Initial media reports indicated that the airplane had to abort the landing, as the runway was being used by another Bluewing AN-28 aircraft. [5] The airplane attempted a go-around, but failed to gain height and crashed into a mountain.[6]
Casualties
The pilot, Soeriani Jhauw-Verkuijl, was the wife of Blue Wing Airlines president Amichand Jhauw. Her brother and colleague was an eyewitness to the crash.[6] Also among the casualties was co-pilot Robert Lackin, as well as a family of six from Antecume Pata, citizens of French Guiana.[7][8] They were to have flown on to Anapaike.[6]
A Dutch national police forensic team was dispatched to assist in the identification of victims.[9][10] While nine of the victims were identified in Suriname, the last ten were identified, using DNA analysis, by a Dutch forensic institute.[11]
Flight
The plane had taken off from Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo with seventeen passengers and two crew at 10:00 local time.[12] Eleven were due to disembark at Lawa Antino airstrip, 10 km west of the southeastern gold mining town of Benzdorp, near the Lawa River bordering French Guiana.[13] They were preparing to work for telecommunications company Telesur.[14]
References
- ^ "Negentien doden bij ongeluk met toestel Blue Wing". Dagblad Suriname. 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "Plane crashes in southern Surinam". BBC News. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "Twintig doden door vliegtuigramp Suriname" (in Dutch). Nu.nl. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "Vliegramp in Suriname: negentien doden". Trouw (in Dutch). 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ Ivan Cairo (2008-04-03). "Twenty feared dead in Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ a b c "Vliegtuigcrash in Lawa gebied. Alle 19 inzittenden om het leven gekomen" (in Dutch). Radio10. 2008-04-03. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "'Motoruitval oorzaak vliegramp Suriname'" (in Dutch). Novum/Elsevier. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
- ^ Ivan Cairo (2008-04-05). "Authorities launch formal investigation into Suriname plane crash". Caribbean Net News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
- ^ "Nederlands team op weg naar Suriname". Trouw (in Dutch). 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "Nederlandse hulp voor Suriname na vliegramp". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ [Suriname plane crash victims identified] 13 May 2008 (in Dutch)
- ^ "Forensic teams head to site of Suriname plane crash". Agence France Press. 2008-04-05. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ "Reunion Gold Antino project". Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ "Met innige deelneming..." (in Dutch). Telesur. 2008-04-04. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-04.