On April 28th, a Boeing 727-200 cargo plane (F) with registration EY-627 from Astral Aviation experienced a runway excursion at Juba Airport (JUB) in South Sudan after flying from Paloich (HGI), Sudan, on a mission to evacuate civilians due to ongoing conflicts in the region. The staggering aspect is that the aircraft was carrying over 300 passengers.
Related: Conflict in Sudan: More planes destroyed at Khartoum International Airport
The escalating confrontation between the paramilitary forces of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Government Armed Forces continues, and according to the WHO, has already accumulated 559 fatalities and thousands of injured.
Thousands of Sudanese and foreign civilians are moving across the country, migrating to neighboring countries, mainly South Sudan.
In recent days, an international mega-operation involving dozens of aircraft from various nations has been taking place in Khartoum (capital of Sudan) and neighboring countries to evacuate foreign residents.
Related: A large international air evacuation is being prepared in Sudan
However, civil aviation has been involved in cooperation with local governments to evacuate civilians, to the unimaginable extent of a Boeing 727 carrying 300 people on board.
Cargo plane coming from paloch with over 300 passengers fleeing Sudan Fighting has overran the runway at Juba International Airport.
No casualties have been reported.
The aircraft was hired by national MP and businessman Bibi Ali and his wife as help. #SSOT pic.twitter.com/fkLu4mkIA8— Daniel Garang Deng 🇸🇸 (@DanielGarang9) April 28, 2023
A Boeing 727 with 300 passengers
The Boeing 727, under unknown circumstances, veered off runway 13 after landing at Juba (JUB), South Sudan, without causing injuries and only structural damage. The airport remains closed.
The aircraft was performing evacuation tasks in coordination with the governments of South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, among others. However, according to local media, the 727 was carrying 300 passengers.
This operation is reminiscent of the evacuation of over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel following the fall of the Derg government. The government used Boeing 747 and C-130 aircraft to evacuate as many people as possible, with the record being held by the 747 with registration 4X-AXD, carrying 1,089 registered passengers, although it is speculated that there were 1,128 passengers since some mothers hid their children in their clothes.
At that time, there were no incidents during the evacuation tasks.
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