The 2020 East African Express Airways Brasilia crash was an aviation accident involving an East African Express Airways

Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series ...

that was on approach to

Berdale Berdale (Maay Maay, Maay: ''Berdaali'', so, Berdaale) is a town in the southern Bay, Somalia, Bay region of Somalia, in South West State of Somalia, and is also known as Bardale. It is the center of the Berdale District. On 4 May, 2020, this was ...

on a chartered cargo flight from Baidoa Airport,

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

on 4 May 2020 when it was allegedly shot down by ground troops of the

Ethiopian National Defense Force The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) ( am, የኢፌዲሪ መከላከያ ሠራዊት, Ye’īfēdērī mekelakeya šerawīt, lit=FDRE Defense Force) is the military force of Ethiopia. Civilian control of the military is carried out t ...

. All 6 occupants, four non-revenue passengers and two crew, were killed. The plane was carrying medical supplies to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia, as well as mosquito nets. According to a one-page African Union peacekeeping force incident report that was leaked on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

on 10 May, Ethiopian troops not affiliated with the peacekeeping mission fired on the aircraft because it made a non-standard approach from the west instead of the east, and it exhibited an irregular flight path, leading the troops to conclude that it may be engaged in a

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

; the report cited a "lack of communication and awareness" by the Ethiopian troops. However, officials emphasized that the report contains readily apparent contradictions and factual errors, and Smaïl Chergui, the African Union Peace and Security Commissioner, said that the peacekeeping force lacks the expertise to conclusively determine the cause of the crash; a joint accident investigation by officials from Somalia,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

is underway, with preliminary findings expected in 45 days. In addition to investigating the crash itself, Somali leaders questioned why Ethiopian troops outside the authority of the peacekeeping force were conducting armed operations in Somalia; there has been a history of controversial unauthorized incursions into Somalia by Ethiopian and Kenyan troops pursuing Al-Shabaab militants.

References

2020 in international relations 2020 in Somalia Accidents and incidents involving the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia Airliner shootdown incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in 2020 Aviation accidents and incidents in Somalia Bay, Somalia May 2020 events in Africa Military operations involving Ethiopia 2020 disasters in Somalia {{aviation-accident-stub

See also

References