BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
14/03/2008
Belarus court fines off-shore company for Mogadishu aircraft damage
Minsk - A Belarusian court fined an off-shore air transportation company more than one million dollars for damage suffered by an aircraft over war-torn Mogadishu, the Interfax news agency reported Friday. The finding against Galaxy Air FCZ, a firm specialising in shipments to difficult regions using state-owned aircraft rented from the Belarusian government, came almost precisely a year after an RPG grenade struck an Il-76 freight jet during a final approach to the Somali capital.
The March 9 2007 attack damaged the four-engine plane and part of its cargo, but the pilots were able to make a safe emergency landing.
The Soviet-era aircraft had been flying from the Ugandan city Entebbe carrying cargo for Ugandan peacekeepers stationed in Somalia.
Belarusian official reports describe the freight as "foodstuffs and basic supplies," while Belarusian opposition media described the freight as BTR armoured personnel carriers.
Galaxy Air FCZ violated contracts renting the aircraft from the Belarusian government by sending the plane to a combat zone without informing Minsk and therefore carried liability for substantial damage suffered by the Iliushin, a statement from the Belarusian Prosecutor General said.
"The plane could not be repaired," the report said in part.
The incident took place less than three weeks before another Belarus-owned Il-76 was destroyed by a guided missile shortly after taking off.
Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko banned flights by elements of the government cargo plane fleet after the March 23 attack, which killed all eleven Belarusians on board.
Source:
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