Less than a week after the accident of a Malian cargo plane at Gao airport, the information collected online allows us to have a more precise idea of the circumstances of the crash. Gray areas remain, but faced with the silence of the Malian authorities, the facts quickly came to the surface, supported by the publication, day after day, of several videos freely available on social networks.
It all starts on Saturday September 23, 2023, when RFI’s Mandekan-Fulfude service sounds the alert. A photo reaches us: an Ilyushin II-76 crashed near Gao airport. A quick analysis of the image helps confirm the type of device. The wreckage burns, emitting thick black smoke, but the empennage (the T-shaped rear part of the aircraft) is intact. After several comparisons, the observation is there. It is indeed an Ilyushin II-76.
Very quickly, we thought that the aircraft had left the runway. In the process, Agence France-Presse mentioned the accident, citing a spokesperson for the German army, still present in Gao as part of the United Nations Mission in Mali (Minusma). “SAccording to the information we currently have, the plane must have overshot the landing strip », he says, specifying that it was not a German army plane. “ This is an IL-76 model aircraft (Russian built), which is not used exclusively by the Russians, but also by the Malian forces and many others », he adds.
The presence around Gao of another Il-76, operated by the Azerbaijani company Silkway Airlines, further adds to the confusion. But the planes of this private company wear a blue decoration, while the damaged aircraft is white. This Sunday, September 24, things are becoming clearer. The plane that crashed on Saturday belonged to the Malian army and transported in particular soldiers from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner », Reports AFP, citing a military source, and the emergency services on site. “ Saturday evening, injured white people were transported by another plane to an unknown destination », assures an airport source. “ When the survivors arrived in Gao, there were almost only Russian soldiers from Wagner », Adds a source close to the firefighters responding to AFP.
At that time, the junta in power made no comment, not a line in a press release, no trace of the bodies, no testimony from the injured… It was also impossible to approach the wreckage of the plane. On social networks, Internet users are asking questions. How to hide an air disaster? Who was in the cabin devastated by the flames? The collective’s X account (formerly Twitter) All Eyes On Wagner, which scrutinizes the activities of the Russian paramilitary group, speaks of a death toll of 140. This information currently remains unverifiable. It is only known that an Il-76 can accommodate up to 140 people in its troop transport configuration.
In search of Ilyushin
Faced with the opacity of the authorities concerning the nationality and the number of victims, RFI then decided to take an interest in the aircraft and the circumstances of the crash. On September 24, 2023, a twist: a fairly clear photo of a white Il-76, wearing the Malian roundel on the bottom of the fin (rear part), was published online. This is a first, because the plane did not previously appear in the inventory of the Malian Air Force which, officially, has many Casa 295 transport aircraft but no Ilyushin, a model much bigger.
The question that then arises is where and when was this image taken? By tracing it online, we discovered that it first leaked on a German forum of aviation enthusiasts. It was posted by an account obviously created for the occasion, before disappearing a few minutes later. In the meantime, the photo was widely shared on social media. Even more disturbing, this will be the only contribution from this mysterious account, entitled “GameMix”, which wrote in a comment on September 24 at 2:32 a.m.: “ I was there today [au moment du crash, NDLR]. We were at stopping point A, it was not a Silk machine, TZ98 maybe confirmed for now “. The accident was due to “ piloting errors “. There are therefore witnesses who obviously wish to remain discreet while providing interesting elements.
The plane would be registered Tango Zoulou 98 (TZ98). TZ is the code designating the Republic of Mali on the records of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). But until now, this device had not been seen anywhere with this code. Could it then be a Russian cargo plane used to transport Wagner’s militiamen, but repainted in the colors of the Malian army in order to cover their tracks? What is certain is that this crash occurred in a context of growing tensions between the various armed actors in northern Mali and the Malian army. The Famas and their Russian proxies are fighting over control of the territory, and sending reinforcements, at the time when Minusma is withdrawing. The trail of the mysterious Il-76 registered in Mali also leads us indirectly to the UN force in Mali.
Under the eyes of Minusma
By looking carefully at the photo published on September 24, we can easily determine the place where the photo was taken. It is in Gao, at the stopping point located on the traffic ramp, also called taxiway, which connects the Minusma aircraft parking lot to the main runway. Another important detail: the video from which the photo was taken was shot from the cabin of a plane which was presumably waiting for the runway to clear before aligning and taking off.
At the top right of the photo, we find a new clue. A piece of gray pole protruding above the cockpit. This is an in-flight refueling boom. In the Minusma inventory, only the C-130J Hercules and the German Airbus A400M are equipped with it. We know that Luftwaffe cargo plane traffic is significant at the Gao base, because the Germans are moving their base after Mali’s expulsion of the UN force of which they are a part.
The leak therefore surely came from a German crew. A track confirmed by the pilot’s reflection on the cockpit window, visible in this photo. By zooming in and adding contrast to the image, we can see a German badge on the shoulder of the pilot who took the photo.
We tried to contact the German army’s communications services regarding the movements of their planes on the day of the crash in Gao. We have not received any response as of the writing of this article. In fact, everything suggests that the photo was taken a handful of seconds before the accident. The low quality satellite images of Gao airport on the day of the crash suggest that a large aircraft was indeed parked in the Minusma parking lot on the day of the crash.
Full video of the crash
Wednesday morning, new surprise: the full video of the accident is published on X. The confirmation we were waiting for is before our eyes. On this new recording, taken from another angle (perhaps from a roof or the control tower), we can see the white Il-76 landing, passing in front of a gray painted military A400M, precisely the one where the previous photo was taken from.
The Malian cargo plane is said to be overloaded. He drives fast and can’t brake effectively enough. Arriving at the end of the track, he leaves the concrete, and in a cloud of dust, continues his race across the fields. An explosion ensues which will likely leave the passengers with little chance of survival. Looking more closely at the video, we see that the Il-76 almost put its wheels on the ground halfway down the runway. He therefore only has a short distance left to successfully land, around 1,000 meters according to our calculations. Which was obviously not enough in his configuration to hope to stop the device.
A new undated photo that appeared online on Wednesday, September 27, shows what remains of the Ilyushin Il-76 after it crashed beyond the limits of the runway. We have geolocated this photo to confirm that it is indeed this Il-76.
Why didn’t he go around again? Perhaps the investigation will tell one day. In the meantime, five days after the accident, the Malian government has not broken its silence. Coincidence or not, the Facebook page of the Malian armed forces refers this Wednesday, September 27 to the death of an aviator: Lieutenant-Colonel Moussa Traoré, an aeronautical maintenance specialist, disappeared “ on September 23, 2023 during the ordered air service », without providing more details on the circumstances of his death.
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