Cargo of Grief: DR Congo Plane Crash Kills All 13 Aboard, Including Nation's Top Military Judges
Kenge, DR Congo — September 25, 2026
A routine military flight turned into a scene of devastation on Friday when a twin-engine turboprop went down in a residential neighborhood of Kenge, a town roughly 200 kilometers east of Kinshasa — killing everyone on board and dealing a gutting blow to the top ranks of Congo's military justice system.
What Happened
The aircraft, a Let L-410UVP Turbolet operated by Tracep Congo Aviation, was flying a scheduled route from Kikwit to the capital, Kinshasa, when it developed a technical fault mid-flight. With no proper airstrip in Kenge to divert to, the pilot attempted an emergency landing anyway — and the plane came down directly into a residential plot in the town.
Kwango vice governor Remy Saki Bokinda confirmed the crash and explained that the lack of a landing strip in Kenge left the crew with no safe option once trouble struck. The impact was followed by a fire so intense that, according to Bokinda, twelve of the thirteen victims were burned beyond recognition, while the pilot's body was found outside the wreckage.
Miraculously, no one on the ground was hurt.
Who Was on Board
This wasn't just any flight — it was carrying some of the most senior figures in the Democratic Republic of Congo's military judicial apparatus.
Among the 13 dead were 11 senior FARDC (Armed Forces of the DRC) officers, who were traveling on an official mission order signed August 19 by Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Guy Kabombo, covering the Kinshasa–Kikwit–Kinshasa route.
Leading that delegation was Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, First President of Congo's Higher Military Court — effectively the country's top military judge. Also on board was Lieutenant-General Lucien-René Likulia Bakumi, the Auditor General of the FARDC before the Higher Military Court, one of the most powerful legal figures in the Congolese armed forces.
The passenger list also included a major and a captain, along with other military personnel and civilians, according to Bokinda.
The loss represents a rare and significant blow — wiping out a chunk of the leadership overseeing military justice in a country still grappling with the fallout of ongoing conflict in its east.
The Aircraft Itself
The crashed plane, registered 9S-GUC, was a Let L-410UVP — a Czech-built turboprop that's something of a workhorse (and unfortunately, a frequent flyer in accident reports) across the DRC's aviation sector. Reports indicate the aircraft was manufactured in 1983 and had been operating in Congo for roughly a decade, despite only recently being added to Tracep Congo Aviation's fleet.
A Country With a Troubled Aviation Safety Record
This tragedy is far from an isolated incident. The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the worst air safety records on the planet. International aviation authorities have repeatedly ranked the country among the five most dangerous in the world for commercial flying, and the numbers back that up — 2024 alone saw dozens of air accidents in DRC airspace, with a significant share proving fatal to everyone aboard.
Poor infrastructure, aging aircraft, limited regulatory oversight, and a lack of proper airstrips in smaller towns like Kenge all combine to make flying in DRC a genuine gamble — a pattern this latest crash tragically fits.
Adding another layer of context: Congo's military has faced major setbacks over the past year against Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebels, who seized large areas of the country's east — a backdrop that makes the loss of senior military justice officials feel especially consequential for a force already under strain.
What Comes Next
Congo's aviation accident investigation authority has already launched a formal probe into the crash, according to a government statement. Investigators will be looking closely at the technical malfunction that forced the emergency landing attempt, as well as broader questions about aircraft maintenance and airline oversight — issues that have plagued Congolese aviation for decades.
For now, the nation mourns the sudden loss of senior legal-military leadership, families in Kenge are processing having a plane crash literally land in their neighborhood, and the investigation into exactly what went wrong is just beginning.
This is a developing story. Details including the full list of victims and preliminary investigation findings are expected to be released in the coming days.