Commercial Airbus Lands Safely After In-Flight Explosion

A hole about the size of the cabin door was found in the Airbus fuselage. YouTube

The passengers of a commercial Airbus A321 operated by Daallo Airlines experienced a frightening flight on Tuesday when what appears to have been an explosion ruptured a large hole in the side of the fuselage. According to a statement from Daallo Airlines, the incident occurred about 15 minutes after the A321 departed the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, on its way to Djibouti.

Despite the ruptured fuselage, the pilots were able to safely land the airplane back in Mogadishu, where all passengers except one disembarked safely, the airline said. Two passengers suffered minor injuries and one passenger appears to have been ejected from the airplane. According to the statement, this is the first fatality in the airline’s 25-plus-year history.

News outlets have speculated that a bomb caused the rupture. Local authorities are investigating the incident.

Several passengers aboard the flight shot videos from inside the airplane. Here is what they saw.

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.
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