Boeing jet overruns runway on takeoff in Senegal, seriously injuring 4
May 9 (UPI) -- Four people were seriously injured Thursday when a Boeing 737-300 jet left the runway on takeoff in Senegal. Six other people had less serious injuries.
The pilot was slightly injured and airport operations were stopped for a few hours, according to a statement from the airport.
According to a statement from Senegal's Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Air Transport, the plane "overran the runway" at about 1:14 a.m. local time Thursday.
It happened at Blaise Diagne airport, the main airport for Dakar.
Air Senegal flight HC301, operated by Transair, was taking off for a flight to the Malian capital Bamako with 78 passengers onboard.
Neither Boeing nor the private company Transair had commented on the accident by Thursday afternoon.
Online videos showed the plane with serial number 6V-AJE with a damaged left engine resting on a grassy bank.
The cause of the accident is being investigated.
Boeing aircraft have been involved in a series of problems in recent months.
They include a door plug blowing out in flight on a Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 departed Portland, Ore., on Jan. 5, rudder pedals sticking while landing Feb. 6 at Newark, New Jersey's Liberty International Airport and a tire falling off a Boeing 777-200 while taking off in San Francisco March 7.
There was also an issue described as a "technical event" causing a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to suddenly drop 300 feet injuring dozens of people that forced an emergency landing in New Zealand and a blown tire on a Boeing 777 in Los Angeles in March.
