Created Wednesday, Jan 29th 2025 18:02Z, last updated Friday, Mar 7th 2025 16:17Z
An Eagle Air Beech 1900 on behalf of Light Services Ltd, registration 5X-RHB performing a charter flight from Unity Oilfield Airfield to Juba (South Sudan) with 19 passengers and 2 crew, had departed Unity Oilfield Airfield north of Bentiu (South Sudan) and was about 10 minutes into the flight when the aircraft lost height and impacted ground. 20 people died, one survivor was taken to a hospital.
A ground observer reported the aircraft had already departed the oilfield area when it appeared as if one wing of the aircraft had snapped off bringing the aircraft down.
Juba Airport confirmed a small aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Unity Oilfield Airfield on Wednesday (Jan 29th) morning.
Authorities reported 3 people were pulled from the wreckage alive, but two people later died in hospital. The passengers were oilworkers including two Chinese and one Indian national.
On Mar 7th 2025 the TAIC (New Zealand) reported: "TAIC has opened an overseas assistance inquiry to support Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau (TSIB), which itself is assisting the Republic of South Sudan. The accident under investigation is the fatal crash of a Beechcraft 1900D aircraft on 29 January, 2025, after take-off from Unity Oil Field Airport in South Sudan. Twenty people died. TAIC is assisting in recovery of records from Air New Zealand, which owned the aircraft from 2002 to 2016."
Unity Oilfield Airfield is located at coordinates N9.3040 E29.7877 and features a north/south dirt runway of about 2150 meters/7100 feet length.
The aircraft after impacting ground:
