S. Sudan aviation chief : Plane not OKed to carry passengers

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The chief of South Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority says a cargo plane that crashed Wednesday, killing at least 36 people, wasn’t authorized to carry passengers.

Stephen Warikozi told The Associated Press on Thursday that the captain of the Antonov AN-12 informed the control tower at Juba International Airport before taking off that he had 12 passengers and six crew members. Only one person, an infant, survived the crash. There were believed to be even more people aboard the flight than those cited by the captain.

Warikozi said the plane’s cargo capacity was 15.5 tons and that, according to the cargo manifest, the plane was carrying 15.5 tons of cargo.

The plane crashed near the Nile River soon after taking off. It had been bound for the Paloich oil fields.