A Kenyan national was among three crew members who died when a humanitarian cargo plane crashed in South Sudan on Tuesday, November 25.
The South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the incident, noting that all three people on board were killed while on a mission to deliver food aid to communities affected by severe flooding.
The crew consisted of individuals from Kenya, Ukraine, and South Sudan, and had departed from Juba earlier that morning.
Officials reported that the aircraft went down at around 8:30 a.m. as it attempted to land in Leer County, Unity State, within the Greater Upper Nile region.
The plane reportedly encountered technical difficulties moments before the crash, leading to its fatal descent.
Local authorities stated that the bodies of the Ukrainian pilot and the South Sudanese engineer had already been retrieved from the wreckage.
Recovery efforts for the Kenyan crew member were still under way, hindered by the remoteness of the crash site.
According to Kueth Latjor, Executive Director and Acting Commissioner of Leer County, the area can only be reached on foot after a three-hour trek.
Charter Flight 114 had been contracted to ferry food supplies to flood-stricken communities around Juba, which have endured months of heavy rainfall and displacement.
An investigative team has since been deployed to determine the exact cause of the crash.
South Sudan has grappled with a troubling record of aviation accidents, many attributed to ageing aircraft, overloading, inadequate safety infrastructure, and harsh weather conditions.
Among the most devastating incidents was the 2015 Antonov crash in Juba, which killed 37 people. In 2018, another crash near Lake Yirol claimed 20 lives.
More recently, in January 2025, a Beechcraft 1900D chartered by an oil company crashed in Unity State, killing 20 of the 21 people on board shortly after takeoff.
