Strange as it may seem, it was the actually Russian news agency, Sputnik News, which was the first to report the incident of the Cessna plane which is reported to have crashed off the coast of Moheli Island in the Comoros, last Saturday.
The Russian SputnikNews outlet also stated clearly that the small aircraft was being piloted by two Tanzanian pilots and that both of them are missing.
Carrying 12 other passengers, the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX, with registration 5H-MZA, was crusing on flight Y61103 from Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport in Moroni, heading to Bandar Es Eslam in Moheli when it dissapeared from Radar.
Apparently, it is only 62 kilometers between the two destinations.
Later, Africa Today News of New York added that the AB Aviation airline had raised alarm that its Cessna plane went off radar some 2.5 kilometers from its destination, the city of Fomboni.
All the 12 passengers are reported to be residents of Comoros Islands, while the two pilots on the controlls were Tanzanians.
Some parts of the aircraft, have been found on shores. The search for the missing people continues.
But a website known as TanzaniaWeb would also come up with another story later, claiming to have talked to aircraft owner, one Captain Mazrui Mohammed and it quoted him as saying the small plane was chattered to the Comoros a week earlier.
“We checked the track system and saw that it was partially before landing when the accident could have occured. We got the information later at about 11 O’clock. There were some items found, but so far no body has been discovered so it is safe to assume that nobody was killed.”
While he admits his two pilots were Tanzanians, Mazrui wasn’t sure of the nationalities of the 12 passengers.
But other sources say that the plane belonged to an American General Aviation.
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