Maputo, 5 Feb (AIM) – Two aircrafts belonging to the publicly-owned company Mozambique Airlines (LAM), collided on the ground, on Sunday, in the southern city of Inhambane.
The aircraft were both Bombardier Q-400s. One of them had just landed in Inhambane from Maputo, and was scheduled to fly on to the tourist resort of Vilankulo.
The second plane was also making a stopover in Inhambane on the Vilankulo/Johannesburg route. Both aircrafts were carrying passengers of various nationalities.
LAM issued a statement, saying that “due to the incident between two of the company’s Q400 aircraft, which occurred today, 04.02.2024, in Inhambane, the company will reschedule some flights.”
“The aim of the rescheduling is to ensure that all safety protocols have been observed following the incident that occurred during parking. LAM has already reported the incident to Mozambique’s Civil Aviation Authority for the appropriate purposes. At the moment, assistance is being given to passengers who should have left Inhambane for Maputo”, reads the document.
Recently, a malfunction prevented one of the company’s aircraft from taking off from the western city of Tete, after a direct flight from Maputo to Lisbon was postponed due to irregularities.
In April, the government placed LAM under the management of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which is responsible for bringing the company into profitability, and rescuing it from bankruptcy.
Under the FMA administration, the company resumed direct flights from Maputo to Lisbon, after an interruption of 12 years. It has also acquired its first Boeing 737-300 freighter, in order to meet the demand for the transportation of goods.
Last week, the Minister of Transport, Mateus Magala, acknowledged that LAM is still in the readaptation phase, following malfunctions and other problems.
(AIM)
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