A small passenger aircraft crashed in South Sudan on April 27, killing all 14 people on board, the country’s civil aviation authority said, with initial indications pointing to poor visibility as a possible cause, foreign media reports.
The Cessna 208 Caravan, operated by CityLink Aviation Ltd, was flying from Yei to the capital Juba when it went down around 20 kilometres south-west of the city shortly after losing contact with air traffic control, according to the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority (SSCAA).
The aircraft departed Yei at 09:15 local time (07:15 GMT) and lost communication approximately 30 minutes into the flight.
“All 14 people on board, including the pilot, perished in the crash,” the SSCAA said in a statement, adding that a team had been deployed to the site to investigate the circumstances.
Among the passengers were 12 South Sudanese nationals and two Kenyan citizens.
The authority said early assessments suggested the aircraft may have come down due to adverse weather conditions, particularly low visibility, though it stressed that investigations were ongoing.
South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has a limited transport infrastructure and a history of aviation safety concerns. The country has recorded multiple fatal air accidents over the past decade, often attributed to ageing aircraft, regulatory shortcomings, overloading and challenging weather conditions.
In January 2025, 20 oil workers were killed when a plane crashed shortly after take-off in Unity state. One of the deadliest incidents in the country occurred in November 2015, when an Antonov aircraft crashed near Juba airport, killing 41 people.
By Aghakazim Guliyev
