What happened
A positioning flight traveling from Chicano, Angola, toward Kigali, Rwanda, encountered extreme weather conditions while traversing the airspace of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During the flight, the aircraft was subjected to intense turbulence, which led to a significant structural failure. This failure resulted in a breach of one of the fuel tanks, creating an emergency situation for the crew.
In an attempt to reach safety, the crew performed an emergency descent and subsequently crash landed the aircraft within DRC. Although the impact caused the aircraft to be damaged beyond repair, the two occupants were able to exit the wreckage. There were no injuries reported among the crew following the incident.
Findings
The primary factor contributing to the accident was the encounter with severe turbulence, which triggered a structural failure and the subsequent rupture of a fuel tank.