JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The cellphone video pans from passengers, some wearing oxygen masks, in seats toward the back of the airliner in flight, and then swivels to the empty front area with a hole in the side of the cabin, the result of an explosion soon after takeoff from Somalia’s capital.
The passengers bunched in the back, likely instructed to sit far from the hole, appear calm. A child wearing an oxygen mask attached to the overhead compartment sits quietly, a blanket over his or her legs. Near the hole, oxygen masks dangle, swaying in a light breeze.
There is a loud sound of rushing air throughout the video, which was taken by Awale Kullane, Somalia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations. The Greece-based Hermes Airlines plane took off from Mogadishu’s airport, bound for Djibouti, and returned for an emergency landing after the explosion.
The plane was not that full during boarding, so people sat wherever they wanted, he said. Kullane. He recalled hearing a crewmember announcing over the communications system that the plane was at an altitude of about 11,000 feet (3.35 kilometers) and people should keep their seatbelts on until authorized to move around.
“Then I heard a big bang, so, and the smoke erupted so we couldn’t see anything for a few seconds, so it was a bit scary,” said Kullane, who was sitting in the middle of the airplane.