Congo carry-on crocodile tragedy?

If true, sad. Tragic. Bizarre.

A lesson to anyone who wants to smuggle a crocodile onto a small domestic flight — you should probably decide to check your baggage instead of bringing a carry-on.

According to the Daily Telegraph, A flight to the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Aug. 25 crashed into a house, killing 19 people and the pilot, because a crocodile escaped from a sports bag and passengers became panicked. The balance of the aircraft shifted because of the stampede, and the plane went down.

This new information comes from the result of an inquiry and testimony from the plane’s lone survivor. Actually, we should mention there was another survivor — the crocodile. Sadly, as he wasn’t the one who put himself in a sports bag, he was killed with a machete. - National Post

From the Daily Telegraph source story:

A report of the incident said: “The terrified air hostess hurried towards the cockpit, followed by the passengers.”

The plane was then sent off-balance “despite the desperate efforts of the pilot”, said the report.

The plane was a Czech-made Let L-410 Turbolet, one of more than 1,100 produced as short-range transport aircraft and used mainly for passenger services.

Update on October 22, 2010 by Frank@OBOW