► NIGERIA: Associated Aviation EMB 120 crashes on take off from Lagos MMA; 13 confirmed dead.

An Associated Aviation (SCD) Embraer EMB-120, (MCN 120174 | 5N-BJY) operating as a charter flight from Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport to Akure (Nigeria), crashed shortly after takeoff from runway 18L yesterday at 09h32L. The turboprop was carrying 13 passengers and 7 crew onboard of whom 13 have been confirmed dead with one unaccounted for. Survivors were taken to hospital in downtown Lagos.

► SPAIN: Arik Air flight to Heathrow diverts to Mallorca after pregnant passenger suffers severe pains, bleeding.

Arik Air (W3) flight W3101 from Lagos, Nigeria to London Heathrow, Untied Kingdom, was on Sunday, September 15, forced to divert to Palma Mallorca Airport, Spain, after a pregnant passenger required urgent medical attention while onboard.

► GHANA: Antrak Air reassures public after ATR72 suffers inflight engine-fire.

Ghana's Antrak Air (O4) has assured the travelling public that both its services and aircraft are safe following an incident on August 16 involving one of its two ATR72-500s, (MCN 809 | EC-KUL) being forced to shutdown its left-hand engine while on climb out of Tamale (Ghana), enroute to Accra.

■ CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui M'poko Int'l Airport resumes partial operations following disturbances.

Bangui's Mpoko International Airport has been partially reopened with some flights cleared to land after the tarmac was inundated with Central African citizens fleeing marauding Seleka rebels who had gone on the rampage in the neighbouring Boeing quarter.

► SOMALIA: An26 overruns runway on landing at Guri'el airstrip, impacts rock; one injured.

A Ukrainian Antonov An-26 (MCN 57314101 | EK-26818) operated by South Airlines overran the runway on touchdown at Guri'el airstrip in Somalia's central Galgadud region on Sunday, August 25, injuring one crew member. The flight, inbound from Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport, was reportedly carrying the region's newly appointed governor, Husein Ali Wahliye, on a trip to visit Dhusamareb, Guri'el and Abudwaq.

► SUDAN: Mid Airlines Fokker 50 prop shatters on collision with obstacle; no injuries.

The Aviation Herald reports that a Sudanese Mid Airlines (7Y) Fokker 50 (MSN 20130 | ST-ARG) that was preparing for departure from Khartoum International Airport enroute to El Obeid as flight 7Y450, on August 6, suffered a serious incident when the starboard side prop slammed into a ground power unit while taxiing.

►► SOMALIA: Ethiopian Air Force Antonov AN12 crashes on landing in Mogadishu; 4 dead.

[UPDATE AUGUST 15] On Friday, August 9, an Ethiopian Air Force Antonov AN-12 military transport (MCN ? | 1513) crashed on landing at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport killing four of the six persons aboard. The other two are said to have sustained serious injuries and are recovering at a Mogadishu hospital run by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a regional peacekeeping force.

► TANZANIA: fastjet A319 grounded following birdstrike.

fastjet (FN) says one of its three Airbus A319s was temporarily grounded in Tanzania following a birdstrike on August 8. The incident resulted in some flights between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza being cancelled.

► ETHIOPIA: Russian Mil-8 chopper on WFP ferry flight to Juba crashes near Debre Zeyit; no casualties.

A Russian Mil Mi-8MTV (MSN 95642 | RA-25497) helicopter leased from Krasnodar-based firm, PANH Helicopters, by the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) enroute to South Sudan, on the morning of Wednesday 31 July, crashed in a locality called Chefe Donsa, near the town of Debre Zeyit, about 50 km outside Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All four occupants onboard survived though three sustained serious injuries.

■■ KENYA: Huge blaze rips through Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

A devastating fire tore through the International Arrivals building and Unit 1 departures at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Wednesday, August 7, forcing the local authorities to temporarily close the airfield until further notice. The fire was under control after three hours with no injuries, fatalities or damage to any aircraft thus far having been recorded. Kenya Airways did report that one member of its staff and a passenger had slight smoke inhalation and were safe in hospital for further investigation. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has granted clearance to the Kenya Airports Authority to use Unit 3 for international departures and arrivals.

► SOUTH AFRICA: SAA jet suffers another false hijack alert, this time in Port Elizabeth.

A South African Airways (SA) jet operating as flight SA417 from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth was yesterday met at Port Elizabeth International Airport by armed police and other emergency response teams after squawking that their aircraft had been hijacked. The incident turned out to be a false alarm.

■ KENYA: Mass delays at Nairobi JKIA after pipeline fault starves airport of Jet A1.

Nearly two thousand passengers, among them 49 athletes from the Kenyan athletics team heading to the IAAF Athletics World Championships in Moscow were, on the night of Monday August 5, stranded at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after the main pipeline supplying jet fuel to the airport malfunctioned resulting in the mass cancellation of flights.

► LIBYA: Qatar Airways A320 diverts to Alexandria after militia forces Tripoli tower to deny landing permission.

Qatar Airways (QR) has once again been victimized in Libya, this time in Tripoli when on Sunday, August 4, an armed militia are said to have forced Tripoli ATC tower staff to deny an inbound Qatar Airways A320 permission to land, instead forcing it to divert to Alexandria, Egypt. The flight, QR528, then refuelled and returned to Qatar.

■ ALGERIA: Fire in Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport control tower temporarily disrupts flights.

Authorities at Algiers Houari Boumediene International Airport were on Monday, July 29 forced to divert all inbound flights to Wahran and Annaba airports after a fire broke out in the control tower at 18h00L. 

► KENYA: Missing Cessna 206F wreckage found in Aberdare forest; no survivors.

The wreckage of a Cessna U206F Stationair (MCN U206-02880 | 5Y-BUG) that disappeared on Thursday July 25 while en-route from Lentille Airstrip in Laikipia, Kenya to Nairobi Wilson Airport, has been found. All 3 persons on board (two American tourists and the pilot Captain Harro Trempaneau) are dead.

► NIGER: Air France A330 grounded in Niamey after a stowaway's dead body discovered in city suburb.

An Air France A330-200 (MCN 519 | F-GZCL) operating as flight AF547 from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Paris CDG via Niamey, Niger, has been grounded in the Nigerien capital since Thursday after a dead body, believed to have fallen from the aircraft as it approached Diori Hamani International Airport's runway 09R/27L, was discovered in one of the city's arrondissements.

► ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Q400 reportedly suffers engine problems on finals into Axum; makes a safe landing.

An Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Bombardier Q400 operating a domestic flight ET128 from Addis Ababa to Axum, Ethiopia, on Wednesday, July 17, reportedly suffered engine problems on its port side shortly before touchdown at Axum's Emperor Yohannes IV Airport.

► UNITED KINGDOM: AAIB releases special bulletin on Ethiopian 787 fire as FAA moves to issue Airworthiness Directive for 787 ELTs.

The United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB)has issued a special bulletin pertaining to a fire onboard a parked Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Boeing 787-8 (MSN 34744 | ET-AOP) at London Heathrow Airport last week has been released. According to the report, suspicions thus far point to the aircraft's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) and its associated system wiring. On the basis of these initial findings and a recommendation from the AAIB, the US Federal Aviation Administration has said it is preparing to issue an Airworthiness Directive in the coming days that would make inspections of all ELTs aboard Boeing 787 aircraft, mandatory.

► SOUTH AFRICA: Cirrus light aircraft crashes just outside Johannesburg Lanseria Airport; 2 dead.

Two people were killed yesterday morning when their Cirrus SR-20 (ZS-CAP) light aircraft crashed after take off from Johannesburg's Lanseria International Airport. According to the South African Press Association, a Lanseria spokeswoman has stated that the "plane left the airport and appeared to be trying to return when it crashed on open land outside the airport."

► UNITED KINGDOM: Fire aboard Ethiopian 787 parked at London Heathrow; carrier to continue 787 ops despite incident.

An Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Boeing 787-8 (MSN 34744 | ET-AOP) has been grounded at London Heathrow airport following an on-board fire which broke out while the aircraft was parked at a remote stand on Friday, July 12, 2013. The aircraft was empty when the incident was observed.