An unknown Antonov AN-26 freighter, flight from Juba to Paloch (South Sudan), was enroute near Bor (South Sudan) when the left hand propeller detached from the aircraft at around 12:30Z and fell to the ground about 200 meters from the highway connecting Bor and Juba where workers observed the aircraft and the object fall down. The aircraft returned to Juba and landed safely.
Juba Airport reported an Antonov cargo aircraft, that had departed from Juba to Paloch, returned to Juba with just one propeller.
Missing a propeller
Rather than running out of fuel or suffering a bird strike, an AN-26 experienced a lucky escape from an engine failure of a different kind today. While departing from Juba in South Sudan, the aircraft experienced its left-hand propeller seemingly falling off in flight.
The aircraft managed to limp back to Juba Airport, where it had departed moments earlier, on one propeller, seemingly landing without further incident. Juba Airport has the codes JUB and HSSJ and serves the South Sudanese city of Juba. It has a single 3,100m (10,171ft) runway made of asphalt, oriented in the direction 13-31. The airport was rated the worst in the world by Sleeping In Airports in 2017, being described as “a tent with a rotting plywood floor full of dangerous holes”.
As mentioned, it is unclear which aircraft was involved or who was operating it. What we do know is that the plane involved was an Antonov AN-26. According to the AvHearld, all private company operations of AN-62 aircraft have now been banned in South Sudan, with the exception of a single aircraft registered as UR-UZI.