The C-130BZ military aircraft was transporting 59 passengers and eight crew members from on a United Nations mission when its left engine caught fire upon landing.There were no casualties reported during the incident.

Brigadier General Hilton Smith, director of corporate staff services at the South African Air Force (SAAF), said the complete aircraft would be recovered to the country later this year.

“Completion date is subject to United Nations and international Covid-19 protocols,” he told DefenceWeb, an online African defence and security news publication.     .

DefenceWeb said officials had cited the coronavirus as the reason for delaying the arrival of a South African forensic team in the eastern DRC city of Goma earlier this year. 

Travel regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the virus meant the SAAF technical team’s departure for the central African country was also delayed, the publication said.

According to Smith, the aircraft has been moved from where it ended up alongside the Goma runway.

A retired SAAF officer said there “was no real possibility” of the aircraft ever returning to service, an assertion backed by African Defence Review director Darren Olivier who called it “a big blow” for the aviation component of the South African National Defence Force.

South Africa is one of the top five troop contributors to the U.N. peacekeeping force in the DRC.

A SAAF inquiry into the January incident is not yet complete. An air force statement said “certain components" needed further investigation.

African News Agency