A small aircraft with the pilot and 2 passengers on board has crashed in the town of Ghosta in Mount Lebanon.
According to initial information, the plane might have hit a building before crashing into a mountain.
The plane, a Cessna C-172 Skyhawk, registered OD-AAB, reportedly belongs to “Open Sky” – a Flight Training Organization accredited by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport.
Preliminary reports indicate that all three people who were on the plane died immediately. The pilot was identified as Captain George Chirickdjian, and the passengers were siblings Hadi and Joelle Moussa according to MTV.
A source at the Beirut Airport told The961 that, for now, there are two possible causes for the accident, the most likely being a “visibility issue”.
He added that reports from the Air Traffic Control will be able to confirm whether or not the pilot reported a mayday or distress call if there was an emergency before the crash happened.
An investigation will have to be launched into the crash to rule on whether there was a maintenance issue since the aircraft undergoes maintenance at the Beirut airport, he told us.
It is worth noting that residents of Ghosta told local media that the fog was very dense and thick around the time of the crash.
Editor’s note – 08/07/2021: The names of the Captain and passengers have been updated after further confirmation.
