4/25/2025
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Somalia to inspect planes after cargo crash, airport attack
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    Friday April 11, 2025


    UN cargo aircraft rests on its nose after a landing gear failure at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport on April 1, 2025. 


    Mogadishu (HOL)  — Somalia’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation has ordered emergency safety inspections and recertification of all aircraft operating in the country following a string of aviation accidents and growing concerns about airspace security.

    The directive, announced by Transport Minister Mohamed Farah Nuux during a meeting with aviation officials at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport, requires all aircraft flying into, out of, or within Somalia to undergo new safety checks. No deadline was provided, but officials say inspections will begin immediately.

    “We must ensure that every aircraft flying in and out of Somalia is properly inspected, registered, and maintained,” Nuux said, according to the Somali National News Agency (SONNA).

    Although the minister did not specify a deadline, aviation authorities are expected to begin the inspections immediately. 

    The announcement follows a deadly cargo plane crash on March 22, when a Kenyan-registered De Havilland DHC-5D Buffalo operated by Trident Aviation went down near Ceel Xabaaloow, about 24 kilometres southwest of Mogadishu. All five crew members were killed. The aircraft had just completed a supply mission to African Union forces in Dhobley. Somali aviation authorities have launched an investigation into the crash.

    The decision also comes on the heels of an April 6 mortar attack targeting Mogadishu’s international airport, which Somali officials blamed on the militant group Al-Shabaab. The attack prompted Turkish Airlines and EgyptAir to suspend flights. Turkish Airlines resumed operations on April 9, but EgyptAir’s twice-weekly service via Djibouti remains suspended.

    Somalia’s civil aviation sector has grown steadily in recent years, with more foreign airlines establishing routes to Mogadishu amid relative improvements in security. However, Somalia has experienced several aviation-related incidents in recent years. In January 2024, a Kenyan cargo plane delivering humanitarian aid for the World Food Programme crashed during landing, killing two people. In July 2023, a Halla Airlines flight crash-landed at Mogadishu airport due to wind shear and a collapsed landing gear. All 34 passengers survived, though two were injured.

     





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