At least 18 killed after small plane crashes in remote part of South Sudan
Juba, Jan 29 (AP): A small plane crashed in a remote part of South Sudan, killing at least 18 people on Wednesday, an official said.
The flight, chartered by Chinese oil firm Greater Pioneer Operating Co., had 21 people on board, including two pilots, said Gatwech Bipal, the minister of information in the oil-rich Unity state, where the crash happened earlier on Wednesday.
The plane crashed while it was taking off near an oil field to head to the international airport in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, he said.
Local media reported that the plane was carrying oil workers.
The UN-affiliated Radio Miraya, citing the flight manifest, reported that the victims included mostly South Sudanese, one Indian and two Chinese nationals.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, and authorities had not yet revealed the identities of the victims.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, is a major oil producer in the region. The East African nation has been trying to ramp up oil production and exports amid persistent cash flow issues for the government.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
