Angola grounds all Antonovs

Angolans are waiting to hear if their relatives were on board

The civil aviation authorities in Angola have grounded all Antonov aircraft, after the crash on Wednesday which killed about 40 people.

It was the second such crash in just over two weeks.

The plane, a Russian-built Antonov 24, dived into the ground and exploded just after take-off from the capital, Luanda.

The operating company Asa Pesada and the national company for airports say they have recovered the black box and investigations are underway.

The ban does not apply to military flights.

Earlier ban ignored

The BBC correspondent in Luanda, Lara Pawson, says after an Antanov crashed in October the head of Angola's civil aviation, Branco Ferreira, told reporters there was a temporary ban on Antonov aircraft.

But she says on Wednesday the director of Luanda's international airport said a ban had never been enforced, only a suspension of some flights.

Angolan national radio reported the plane was on fire before it crashed five minutes after take-off in wasteland in the Golfe neighbourhood, in the outskirts of Luanda.

The plane was flying to the southern coastal town of Namibe where according to Portuguese media reports it was due to pick up members of Portugal's Porto football club youth team.

Among the 34 passengers, all believed to be Angolans, was a senior military officer with the rank of colonel.

Thousands of Angolans are waiting to discover whether or not their relatives or friends were on the Antonov 24.

Second crash

On 31 October, an Antonov-26 crashed near the northern Angolan town of Saurimo, 700 km (450 miles) east of Luanda.

The black box has been recovered and an investigation is underway

All 50 passengers and crew were killed.

Unita rebels said they shot the aircraft down, but the authorities said a technical fault in one of the engines was the cause of the crash.

Other crashes in recent years have been blamed on poor aircraft maintenance.

Conflicting causes

The rebels have in the past shot down civilian planes, claiming that they were supplying government troops.

Russian-made Antonov planes are widely used in Angola

There are dozens of Russian-made Antonov planes in Angola, used by private companies for passenger and cargo business across the country.

Angolan aviation experts travelled to Russia in September to urge Russian authorities to stop exporting rundown aircraft to the south-west African nation.

In October, the Angolan government announced that nearly 400 Russian pilots working in the country would be submitted to flying tests.

The decision came amid allegations that Russian pilots were flying under the influence of alcohol.