Nothing Like Being a Flight Attendant in Congo!

A passenger plane missed a runway in eastern Congo, abruptly coming to a halt in a hardened lava field at the end of the airstrip, according to Associated Press and Agence France Presse
reports on November 19th. Initial broadcasts on a United Nations radio station indicate that 20 people on the 117 passenger flight were injured in the accident, reports the Associated Press.

According to the Agence France Presse, the MD-80 airliner was flying from the Congolese capital of Kinshasa to Goma. The aircraft was operated by Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation, an airline based in Kinshasa, and one that is on a list of airlines deemed unsafe to operate in the European Union airspace, according to the Aviation Safety Network. David Blattner, the head of the airline, told the AFP that the pilot failed to break after landing, missing a turn at the end of the runway at the Goma, Congo airport.

The plane's nose proceeded to smash into chunks of hardened lava positioned at the end of the runway. Passengers were evacuated from the aircraft on emergency chutes in rainy conditions.

Molten lava gushed onto the airport's runway after a 2002 volcanic eruption, diminishing the length of the runway from two miles to less than a mile. The lava wall was never completely cleared from the runway and is blamed for a fatal accident in 2007 when a cargo plane hit the hardened lava before catching on fire and killing at least eight, the Associated Press reported. Another fatal accident in Goma occurred in 2008 when a DC-9 slammed into a busy market after takeoff, killing at least 37, according to a Agence France Press report on April 15, 2008.

Congolese airline pilots have been protesting the unsafe runway, saying it is too short to land MD-80 planes.

The Congo has experienced more fatal plane crashes than any other African country since 1945, according to information from the Aviation Safety Network. Despite the poor aviation safety record, the AP notes that flying is still considered the easiest way to traverse the enormous nation.