Tanzania fisherman bags appointment from President for saving 24 lives in plane crash

A Tanzania fisherman identified as Jackson Majaliwa has been offered a job by the President with the firefighting and rescue brigade and additional rescue operations training to sharpen his skills. He was also awarded 1 million Tanzanian shillings (US$430).

The fisherman who was one of the first responders when a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania said he was knocked unconscious while trying to save the pilots.

At least 19 people, including both the pilots, died on Sunday after a Precision Air flight that departed from the financial capital Dar es Salaam crash-landed in Lake Victoria during treacherous weather conditions as it approached an airport in Bukoba.

The fisherman earlier claimed in a BBC interview that he had panicked as he watched the plane approach from the wrong direction before crashing into the lake.

He and three other fishermen arrived on the scene quickly, and he used a rowing bar to break open the back door, allowing the passengers seated toward the back of the plane to be saved.

READ ALSO:

• No government can solve all of Nigeria’s issues – Kenyatta claims
• Tanzania’s President Samia arrives in Kenya for a two-day political visit
• Tanzanian President John Magufuli dies at 61

The Tanzania fisherman claims that after getting out of the water, he asked the on-scene airport security if they had any tools to break the screen.

“He directed me to break the window screen. I emerged from the water and asked airport security, who had arrived if they have any tools that we can use to smash the screen,” he said.

“They gave me an axe, but I was stopped by a man with a public announcement speaker from going down and smashing the screen. He said they were already in communication with the pilots and there was no water leakage in the cockpit.”

After being stopped from breaking the window, Mr. Jackson claimed that he dove back and waved goodbye to the pilots before one of them indicated that they still needed to be saved.

According to the fisherman, the pilot indicated the emergency door in the cockpit.

He added: “I swam back up and took a rope and tied it to the door and we tried to pull it with other boats, but the rope broke and hit me in the face and knocked me unconscious.

“The next thing I know I am here at the hospital.”

He was awarded TSH 1m (£370) for his brave efforts by the regional commissioner of Kagera.

At a funeral service being held at the neighborhood football stadium in Bukoba, mourners have been paying respect and passing by the coffins of the 19 victims.
Kassim Majaliwa, the prime minister of Tanzania, is one of the attendees.

He had earlier promised a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the crash. On Sunday, the aircraft departed from the nation’s commercial hub of Dar es Salaam and made a scheduled stop in Mwanza. At around 8.50 am, the aircraft crashed as it was getting ready to land at Bukoba airport. Airport operations have been suspended until further notice.

“All Tanzanians join you in mourning these 19 people … who have lost their lives,” he told reporters.

Survivors of the crash recalled how passengers seated in the front aisles struggled to flee the gushing water.