Sudanese military aircraft crashes on take-off, at least 46 passengers killed   

A Sudanese military aircraft carrying senior military personnel has crashed while attempting to take off from an air base located in the northeast of the country. At least 46 passengers and crew are reported to have died in the ancient. Latest reports issued by the country’s Ministry of Information indicate that 17 military personnel along with 29 civilians are among the victims, with Major-General Bahr Ahmed, a senior commander in the Sudanese Army, among the dead.

The airplane involved, a Russian-built Antonov An-26 multi-purpose aircraft, crashed as it took off from Wadi Sayidna Air Base in Northeast Sudan on a flight to an air base near Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The Antonov aircraft crashed into the residential district of Karrari in the city of Omdurman, described as a sister city to the capital city, Khartoum. Several houses were reportedly destroyed by a post-impact fire.

The Sudanese military issued a statement following the accident reporting that firefighting teams had managed to contain the blaze at the crash site. The statement did not provide details on what had caused the crash, but military sources told reporters that it was most likely due to technical reasons. As reported by Al Jazeera, residents in northern Omdurman reported a loud explosion from the crash, which damaged several homes and caused power outages in surrounding neighborhoods.  

19 killed in Sudan military plane crash after aircraft’s takeoffA Sudanese military aircraft crashed in the city of Omdurman, killing at least 19 people, military and health officials said Wednesday.The Antonov aircraft crashed Tuesday while taking off from the Wadi… pic.twitter.com/MJqGqhSJFW— aircraftmaintenancengineer (@airmainengineer) February 26, 2025 The official number of fatalities resulting from the crash stands at 46 at the time of writing – a figure that is said to include several women and children. The Sudanese Health Ministry said that some bodies were transferred to the Nau Hospital in Omdurman for identification purposes. Both pilots are understood to have died.  

The accident comes as the latest blow for the Sudanese military, which has been locked in a civil war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023 resulting in a widespread humanitarian crisis in the country and giving rise to widespread allegations of civil rights abuses. It was reported in February 2025 that nearly 13 million people are thought to be displaced as a result of the ongoing conflict.  

Following the crash, speculation began to appear seemingly indicating that the RSF may have been responsible for the crash of the Antonov. Just 24 hours earlier, on February 26, 2025, the RSF issued a statement claiming it had downed a Sudanese military fighter jet in the region of South Darfur. However, specifically addressing the speculation concerning the crash in Omdurman, it was quickly revealed that the RSF is not knowingly active in the region and has no presence in the area currently. The RSF has not so far claimed any responsibility for this latest accident.

Ryan Fletcher / ShutterstockAlthough aircraft incidents and accidents are not uncommon in Sudan, this latest occurrence is one of the deadliest plane crashes in the northeastern African nation in the past two decades. The country has a poor safety record due largely to an aging aircraft fleet, poor maintenance practices, a widespread lack of spares, and under-invested airport infrastructure.

In July 2023, nine people were killed in Sudan after the plane they were flying in crashed as it was taking off. The civilian Antonov plane reportedly experienced a “technical” issue before crashing at Port Sudan Airport (PZU). Of the nine people killed, four were military personnel. According to the Sudanese army, a female child survived the crash. In 2020, at least 16 people were killed when another military transport aircraft, a smaller Russian-made Antonov An-12, crashed in the western region of Darfur killing all onboard.

The Antonov An-26 involved in this latest accident is a twin-engine turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft designed and produced by the Antonov Aircraft Company in what was then the Soviet Union between 1969 and 1986. It forms part of a family of transport aircraft including the smaller An-12 and An-24 although is smaller than the An-30 and An-32.  

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