Free Airlines and
Karibu Airways (also cited as the operator) were both on the
List of air carriers banned in the EU. That list now bans "All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC)". The L-410UVP is only rated for a maximum of 17 passengers, but there were 21 people aboard, including three crew. The aircraft was previously registered as 5R-MGO by the now-defunct
Madagascar Flying Services. It was reported to have previously crashed in southern
Sudan in 2005. ==Crash==