AB Aviation was a private regional airline and the largest in the Comoros[2] headquartered and based at Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport.[1] Following a fatal accident on 26 February 2022, the airline's air operator's certificate was revoked.

History

AB Aviation was founded in 2011 with its main purpose being to fill in the gap left by Air Service Comores and Comores Aviation, with both having ceased operations.[3] In September 2016, the National Civil Aviation and Meteorological Agency of Comoros (ANACM) revoked the airworthiness of AB Aviation's Boeing 737, citing problems regarding the aircraft's hydraulic systems within its shock absorbers. The Boeing 737 was sent to South Africa to judge whether the aircraft was airworthy.[4] In November, one of the airline's Embraer aircraft was grounded for 15 days.[3] In February 2019, the airline became partners with Hahn Air Systems GmbH and joined its H1-Air network, gaining access to 100,000 travel agencies.[5] On 19 March 2022, the Comorian Civil Aviation revoked the air operator's certificate of AB Aviation, halting all operations.[6][1] The airline, which was accused of not having insured the passengers, was sentenced by a civil court to pay the victims of the plane crash €600,000 in compensation.[7][8]

Services

Destinations

AB Aviation Embraer EMB 120

As of August 2018, AB Aviation served the following destinations:[9]

Comoros
France (Mayotte)
Tanzania

Fleet

Historically, the airline's fleet included the following aircraft:[10][3]

Accidents and incidents

AB Aviation Flight 1103

5H-MZA, the aircraft involved, one month before the accident

On February 26, 2022, a Cessna 208D Caravan registered 5H-MZA leased from Fly Zanzibar, operating as AB Aviation Flight 1103 and flying from Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport to Mohéli Airport, crashed about 2.5 km into the Indian Ocean. All 14 occupants on board the aircraft were killed.[11][12][13][14] The flight had taken off off from Mohéli Airport at 11:50 EAT.[15]

No distress calls or technical faults were issued by the pilots.[16] Search and rescues were hampered by bad weather conditions,[11] which had been present for several days over the Comoros islands.[15] The Comorian Government declared three days of national mourning.[17] The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority sent a team of investigators to assist in the investigation.[18] As of 2023, the wreckage remains missing with only one unidentified body having been found.[19]

In October 2024, a report from the commission investigating the crash criticized the pilots' lack of familiarization regarding the scheduled route. The report also noted that the pilots were unaware of the weather conditions along the flight path. A succession of "major" errors led to the aircraft crashing.[7] As a result of the accident, single-engined aircraft were banned from flying in the Comoros.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d ch-aviation.com - AB Aviation retrieved 3 June 2022
  2. ^ "abaviation". abaviation.aerocrs.net. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  3. ^ a b c "AB Aviation: Un ultime plan de redressement d'ici vendredi" [AB Aviation: An ultimate recovery plan by friday]. Le Journal de Mayotte (in French). 19 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  4. ^ "Comores : les compagnies aériennes dans le rouge" [Comoros : Airlines in trouble]. Linfo.re (in French). 9 January 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  5. ^ "AB Aviation enters GDSs with Hahn Air Systems' product H1-Air" (Press release). Hahn Air Systems GmbH. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  6. ^ "La compagnie AB aviation perd sa licence de vols". Mayotte la 1ère (in French). 22 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  7. ^ a b Youssouffa, Ilona (10 October 2024). "Toujours pas de réponses pour les familles, deux ans après le crash du vol d'A.B. Aviation au large de Mohéli" [Still no answers for the families, two years after the crash of an AB Aviation flight off Mohéli]. Mayotte La Première (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  8. ^ "Comores - Accident Ab Aviation : la justice exige l'indemnisation des victimes" [Comoros – Accident Ab Aviation : the justice demands the compensation of the victims]. Linfo.re (in French). 1 October 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  9. ^ "abaviation". abaviation.aerocrs.net. Archived from the original on 2019-06-22. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  10. ^ "Our Fleets". AB Aviation. Archived from the original on 2019-06-22. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  11. ^ a b Malanga, Alex Nelson (28 February 2022). "14 missing as Tanzania registered plane crashes off the Comoros". The Citizen. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Comores : disparition d'un avion transportant 14 personnes au large de Mohéli". La Première (in French). 26 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  13. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX 5H-MZA Mohéli-Bandar es Eslam Airport (NWA)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  14. ^ "Plane with 14 people on board crashes in the Comoros". Hindustan Times. 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  15. ^ a b "Comores : un avion porté disparu entre Mohéli et Moroni" [Comoros : a missing plane between Mohéli and Moroni]. Mayotte la 1ère (in French). 26 February 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  16. ^ Issa, Mohamed (2 March 2022). "Zanzibar VP: Govt following up on Comoros plane crash". The EastAfrican. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  17. ^ "بعد حادث تحطم طائرة آب: قاضي القضاة يدعو المواطنين إلى أداء صلاة الغائب على أرواح الضحايا بعد صلاة الجمعة اليوم". Al-Watwan (in Arabic). 4 March 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  18. ^ "Tanzania to dispatch aviation experts to Comoros to investigate plane accident". Xinhua News Agency. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  19. ^ Minas, Bruno (9 June 2023). "Les proches des victimes du crash d'AB Aviation n'ont que leurs yeux pour pleurer" [The relatives of the crash of AB Aviation only have their eyes to cry]. La Première (in French). Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Comores : « Int'Air Îles » espère revenir à Mayotte" [Comoros : " Int'Air Îles " hopes to return to Mayotte]. Mayotte la 1ère (in French). 1 November 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AB_Aviation
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