A small passenger aircraft operated by CityLink Aviation crashed southwest of South Sudan's capital Juba on Monday morning, killing all those on board. The plane, a Cessna 208 Caravan, was travelling from Yei — a town roughly 130 kilometres (80 miles) southwest of the capital — when it went down approximately 20 kilometres from Juba. The South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority (SSCAA) confirmed the deaths and said a response team had been dispatched to the crash site to assist emergency services and begin an investigation.
The aircraft took off from Yei at 09:15 local time, but air traffic control lost contact approximately 30 minutes into the flight. Early indications from the SSCAA point to adverse weather conditions, particularly low visibility, as a likely contributing factor. Videos circulating on social media showed burning wreckage scattered across a mist-covered, mountainous area. Among those on board were 13 passengers and the pilot — 13 South Sudanese nationals and two Kenyan citizens. The passenger totals reported by different official sources differ slightly, with the SSCAA manifest listing 15 people in total.
South Sudan, the world's youngest country having gained independence in 2011, has a poorly developed transport network, making aviation a critical but risky mode of travel. The country's civil aviation sector has a troubled safety record: more than 55 aircraft crashes were recorded in the decade following independence, with fatalities attributed to a range of factors including ageing aircraft, weak regulatory compliance, overloading, poor weather conditions, and pilot error.
Monday's crash is the latest in a series of deadly aviation accidents in the country. In January 2025, 20 oil workers died when their aircraft went down just three minutes after take-off near the oil fields of Unity state in the north. The deadliest recorded crash occurred in November 2015, when an Antonov aircraft came down near Juba airport, killing 41 people.
Authorities say further details are expected as investigators work to establish the exact cause of the latest accident. The crash underscores the persistent challenges facing aviation safety in one of the world's most underdeveloped infrastructure environments.