An Air Djibouti Boeing 737-500 was today involved in an incident when one of its landing gear collapsed upon landing in Garowe, Somalia. The incident occurred at around 09:30 following the aircraft's second flight of the day.

What happened?

According to The Aviation Herald, this morning, an Air Djibouti Boeing 737-500 became stuck on Garowe's runway. After the aircraft landed, its right main gear collapsed while it was decelerating. The aircraft's right engine then took the aircraft's weight along with the two remaining landing gears.

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According to satellite imagery from Google Maps, Garowe's airport has a single runway with a small taxiway mid-way, leading to a terminal building. As such, until the aircraft can be moved, the airfield will be rendered out of action.

Further reporting by the Aviation Herald suggests Garowe Airport is currently without a working fire truck as it has been waiting for a tire for the past two months. This meant no emergency crew response to the incident, despite smoke being reported from the aircraft.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Air Djibouti commented:

"This morning, December 02, 2020, at around 9:00 a.m., a Boeing 737 of the Air Djibouti airline company left the runway when it landed at Garoowe - Puntland airport, following a tire problem, an incident that did not occur. caused no injuries"

A multi-part flight

The aircraft involved, EY-560, was operating a multipart flight from Djibouti to Mogadishu. The aircraft departed from Djibouti at 07:12 before arriving in Hargeisa at 07:43. It then departed Hargeisa at 08:35, according to FlightRadar24.com. However, the aircraft left coverage as it flew to Garowe. After the stop in Garowe, the Boeing 737-500 was due to continue to Mogadishu.

Where did Air Djibouti come from?

While it is difficult to confirm due to a lack of information, it seems as though this Boeing 737-500 may have been the only aircraft in the Air Djibouti fleet.

In 2016, a Boeing 737 aircraft was delivered to Air Djibouti by Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson. He is CEO of Cardiff Aviation Services based at St Athan near Cardiff in Wales. Yesterday one of British Airways' former Boeing 747s was confirmed as going to the airfield.

However, while Dickinson is known for flying Iron Maiden's Boeing 747, in addition to its Boeing 757, he has also flown Air Djibouti's 737. In 2016 he piloted the aircraft to Djibouti via Malta. Cardiff Aviation was providing the airline's management at the time.

In November 2017, Cardiff Aviation concluded its contract, handing the management of Air Djibouti over to local management. At the time, Cardiff Aviation was refitting a Boeing 767-200 for the airline to launch services to London. However, this doesn't appear to have been delivered to the airline.

What do you think of the incident? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!