EUROPEAN UNION BORDER OFFICIALS DIED ON SURVEILLANCE MISSION
Military turboprop aircraft crashed outside the Malta airport runway shortly after take-off at 7:30am • Flight was part of a French Customs operation tracing human and drug trafficking routes • Remains of all five French officers found.
A small-engine aircraft has crashed in Safi after developing engine trouble the minute it took to air from the MIA runway, in a tragic accident that left five French military officers dead. Witnesses on site of the rescue described the scene as a pile of charred, black metal parts, owing to the scale of the explosion that ensued as the aircraft, a Fairchild Metroliner MkIII, crashed into the ground.
The Maltese government has confirmed that the flight was part of a French Customs surveillance operation, which has been taking place for the past five months and tasked with tracing routes of illicit traficking of all sorts, including human trafficking and drug trafficking.
The remains of all five French nationals have been found.
The government said that information, footage and eyewitness accounts, includind those of three Armed Forces of Malta personnel at the nearby Safi barracks and two commercial airline pilots, clearly indicated there was no explosion prior to impact.
Military sources had earlier told MaltaToday the small aircraft was departing to head to Misrata in northwestern Libya, on an anti-human trafficking mission. But the EU border agency Frontex confirmed that the plane was not not one of its aircraft and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini said the officials were not part of an EU mission. It would appear that the plane is regularly leased out to EU and United States military personnel in Malta.
A plane-spotter who witnessed the accident said he was just packing up his equipment when the plane crash-landed at around 7:30am. “It was an explosion, a right ball of fire,” a visibly-shaken William Farrugia, 19, said.
The aircraft crashed on the road between Safi and Kirkop, right outside the MIA runway. The airplane was seen rising in the air and then nosediving back into the ground. The explosion was caught in dramatic footage by a motorist driving along the road.
The Fairchild Metroliner, registration number N577MX, was registered to Canada-based CAE Aviation, a major civil and defence contractor offering aircraft simulation and training to civilian clients as well as many defence and security agencies, including all US services.
In a statement, MIA said that rescue and fire services teams and the Civil Protection Department and Mater Dei Hospital were dispatched to the scene immediately. “Our priority at this time is with the passengers involved. The aerodrome was reopened at 11.30am to allow flights to land and take off. Passengers are advised to check the airport website for further information.”
Cancelled flights
Air Malta said that a number of its flights were delayed as Malta International Airport was closed down following the plane crash.
The following flights that were scheduled to depart from MIA this morning will be delayed: KM612/3 (Malta-Rome-Malta), KM394/5 (Malta-Amsterdam-Malta), KM116/7 (Malta-London Gatwick-Malta), KM100/101 (Malta-London Heathrow-Malta) and KM306/7 (Malta-Munich-Malta).
An inbound flight from Catania was rediverted back to Catania while flights KM423 from Brussles and KM479 from Paris were waiting for MIA to reopen before leaving for Malta.
The airline said it was offering affected passengers free re-booking on any Air Malta scheduled flight, subject to availability, or full refund of the ticket.
The airplane
The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild. This type of aircraft has been involved in 22 other crash incidents, the one before the Malta accident being on 2 June, 2014 when a Aeronaves TSM Fairchild (Swearingen) SA226TC Metro II, registration XA-UKP, crashed shortly after take-off from Querétaro international airport, Querétaro State, Mexico.
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