Talk:Somali Airlines Flight 40/GA1

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Nominator: Aviationwikiflight (talk · contribs) 07:32, 28 April 2025 (UTC)

Reviewer: Warriorglance (talk · contribs) 07:08, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi! I would like to review this page. You can expect my comments over the next couple of days. Warriorglance(talk to me) 07:08, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Criterion 5 (stability)

I find the article stable. No issues :)

Criterion 6 (illustration)

The article is suitably illustrated by images and has acceptable captions. No image copyright issues found.

Lead

I find the lead going a little too deep and not concise in nature. Some editing is required in this area.

• Taking inspiration from other aircraft disaster articles, some content can be added to the first paragraph and also it can be rephrased as:

Somali Airlines Flight 40 was a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight operating from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport in Somalia. On 20 July 1981, the Fokker F27 operating in the route crashed near the town of Balad, a few minutes after takeoff, killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. ---- also specifies the names of the airports.

• • I prefer keeping the date as it is as we're not talking about a flight route but an event that occurred and it immediately states on what day the plane crashed. Maybe a reworded version of the first paragraph could go along the lines of:
    On 20 July 1981, Somali Airlines Flight 40, a Somali Airlines Fokker F27 operating a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport, Somalia, crashed a few minutes after takeoff near the town of Balad, killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. It is the worst aviation accident in Somalia. [...] Aviationwikiflight (talk) 10:25, 4 May 2025 (UTC)
• If you have sources stating that this is the deadliest airline accidents in Somalia, you can add that at the end of this paragraph
  • I've managed to find this source (which seems to be the only one) that states that it was the worst accident in Somalia (Jul 20, 1981 – Worst accident (50 fatalities)). Aviationwikiflight (talk) 09:05, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

  I've added it into the "flight" section. I'll wait before adding the information into the lead. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:07, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

I'm not really sure about adding the date at the beginning, as many Aircraft disaster GA articles usually don't do that at the beginning. The reason being(not sure), it resembles a newspaper article rather than an encyclopedia (WP:NOTNEWS). If Somali Airlines 40 was running prior to the crash, I don't see the reason not to include it. Anyway, second line can be devoted to the crash. Pls feel free to comment! Warriorglance(talk to me) 14:38, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

It is true that most of them use the proposed format but it seems to be more of a precedent rather than a consensus as United Airlines Flight 328, a GA, doesn't use the same format (as do some other non-GA articles). The style guide from WP:AATF only says that As a minimum, it needs to detail the location, airline and aircraft involved, the number of people involved and, once known, the official cause of the accident. WP:NOTNEWS is more about sourcing rather than about the contents of an article. I'll comment below. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 16:09, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Proposal for the lead

Currently, the second paragraph and some parts of the third paragraph of the lead go too much into detail about the crash. It really does not provide a concise summary of the article itself. I would like to propose this change to the lead:

• The lead can be condensed to two paragraphs (since it is not a major air disaster in the world). These paragraphs should be composed of short and concise sentences.
• First paragraph: Basic facts — flight, date, route, aircraft, crash location, and casualties. --- one I discussed above
• Second paragraph: Aftermath and investigation — what caused it, key claims, and disputes (as a summary).
• Pls share your comments, we can develop from there!
  • Per your suggestions, the first paragraph could probably read as:

    Somali Airlines Flight 40 was a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport, Somalia. On 20 July 1981, the Fokker F27 operating the route crashed near the town of Balad a few minutes after takeoff killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board.

    Aviationwikiflight (talk) 17:10, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

• Though for the lead, shouldn't there be some details on the flight turning back to Mogadishu before re-departing for Hargeisa? It seems to be widely mentioned in a lot of sources. (And just to let you know, the sources without a URL can be accessed via the Internet Archive. I'll link them here to make it easier to access them.) Aviationwikiflight (talk) 17:43, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

  – Fokker commercial aircraft : from the F.I. of 1918 up to the Fokker 100 of today.

  – Encyclopaedia of African airlines

  – Airlines of the Jet Age : a history

  – Safirka: an American envoy

  – Flights of terror: aerial hijack and sabotage since 1930

  For the Globe and Mail citation, you should be able to access it using the Wikipedia Library. You just need to find "ProQuest", click access collection and then copy and paste "Plane crash kills 49" into the search bar. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 17:58, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

  Thanks for the links! would be useful in checking.

  P.S-- I don't have access to TWL right now as I am new (less than 6 months). Warriorglance(talk to me) 06:27, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

No, we can go ahead with the inclusion of the date at the beginning. I am not insisting this format which is not even a GA criterion.

Considering the inclusion of "turning back to Mogadishu", if it is widely mentioned in the sources, like this is partly the reason why the crash is famous for, We can include them in the lead, though it must be a summary and it should not go too much into detail. I am proposing this as an another paragraph if it has sufficient content, or if does not have have content, can be merged into one of the two paras. Warriorglance(talk to me) 06:24, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

• The corrected first para of the lead can be as:

On 20 July 1981, Somali Airlines Flight 40, a Somali Airlines Fokker F27 operating a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport in Somalia crashed a few minutes after takeoff killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. With a total of 50 fatalities, the crash is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in Somalia.

• Ok, I've done the proposed revisions, plus adding the crash location:

  On 20 July 1981, Somali Airlines Flight 40, a Somali Airlines Fokker F27 operating a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport, Somalia, crashed near the town of Balad a few minutes after takeoff killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. With 50 fatalities, it is the deadliest aviation accident in Somalia.

  Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:18, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

• Please propose a suitable second paragraph covering the Aftermath and investigation, we can work from there
• If you have content, you may also propose an another para covering what the aircraft did after takeoff.
  • I've significantly trimmed paragraphs 2 and 3. Is this fine?

    After departing from Mogadishu, the flight returned to the airport for repairs due to an unspecified malfunction. Following the repairs, the aircraft departed again from Mogadishu before crashing. A mass funeral attended by Somali president Siad Barre, who ordered the creation of a commission of inquiry, took place at the scene of the accident.
    
    According to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), the aircraft entered a spiral dive in an area of heavy rainfall after encountering strong vertical gusts leading to the separation of its right wing. Hiiraan Online contested ASN's account of the accident as according to them, besides light showers, there were hardly any thunderstorms in Mogadishu in July.

    Aviationwikiflight (talk) 16:04, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

  Yes! This is appropriate. I'm gonna slightly tweak it to improve sentence structures. The corrected lead shall be:

  On 20 July 1981, Somali Airlines Flight 40, a Fokker F27 operating a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport, Somalia, crashed near the town of Balad a few minutes after takeoff, killing all 44 passengers and six crew members on board. With 50 fatalities, it remains the deadliest aviation accident in Somalia.

  The flight had initially returned to Mogadishu for repairs due to an unspecified malfunction before departing again and subsequently crashing. A mass funeral was held at the scene, attended by Somali President Siad Barre. Two days after the accident, Barre ordered the creation of a commission of inquiry to investigate the cause.

  According to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), the aircraft entered a spiral dive after encountering strong vertical gusts in an area of heavy rainfall, leading to the separation of its right wing. However in 2021, Hiiraan Online contested this account, stating that Mogadishu typically experiences only light showers in July and that there were no significant thunderstorms at the time.

  ---also the added the start of the investigation, felt it was important Warriorglance(talk to me) 06:59, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

   Done with a bit of rephrasing:

  On 20 July 1981, Somali Airlines Flight 40, a Fokker F27 operating a daily scheduled domestic passenger flight from Mogadishu International Airport to Hargeisa Airport, Somalia, crashed near the town of Balad a few minutes after takeoff killing all 44 passengers and 6 crew members on board. With 50 fatalities, it is the deadliest aviation accident in Somalia.
  
  The flight had initially returned to Mogadishu for repairs due to an unspecified malfunction before departing again and subsequently crashing. A mass funeral attended by Somali President Siad Barre was held at the scene. Two days after the accident, Barre ordered the creation of a commission of inquiry.
  
  According to the Aviation Safety Network, the aircraft entered a spiral dive in an area of heavy rainfall after encountering strong vertical gusts leading to the separation of its right wing. However in 2021, Hiiraan Online contested this account, stating that besides light showers, Mogadishu rarely experiences thunderstorms in July.

  Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:50, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Background

Now that the lead is over, I'll just read through the rest and raise issues of awkward phrasing and other obvious errors.

• The aircraft had been acquired by then-flag carrier Somali Airlines – formed on 5 March 1964 – in 1978. ---> The aircraft had been acquired in 1978 by Somali Airlines, the flag carrier formed on 5 March 1964.

•  Done but rephrased it a bit: The aircraft had been acquired in 1978 by flag carrier Somali Airlines, formed on 5 March 1964. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• By mid-1981, the airline's fleet consisted of two Boeing 720Bs, two Boeing 707s acquired from American Airlines, two Douglas DC-3s, two Fokker F27s, and four Cessna aircraft. ---> By mid-1981, the airline's fleet consisted of two Boeing 720Bs, two Boeing 707s (acquired from American Airlines), two Douglas DC-3s, two Fokker F27s, and four Cessna aircraft.

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• The flight was carrying 44 passengers and 6 crew members, including 9 family members. Among the passengers were three senior armed forces officers, General Omar Osman Diriye, a general of the Somali National Army, along with his three brothers, his wife and his four children. --- This needs some clarification. Who are the three armed forces men? Is the nine family members actually part General Omar's family?

• The source doesn't state that those nine family members are a part of General Omar Osman Diriye's family. It only states:

  [...] claiming all 50 passengers and crew on board, among them nine family members. [...] Among the dead was General Omar Osman Diriye of the Somali National Army, his three brothers, his pregnant wife and his four children.

  No mention by AFP on who the three armed forces men were. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• One of the passengers included Margaret Mary Ssebunnya ---> Another passenger was Margaret Mary Ssebunnya

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• and engineer Ali Fodade/Foodade ---> and engineer Ali Fodade (also spelled as Foodade)

• The problem is I'm not sure if this is another way to spell the name or if it was simply a mistake made by Hiiraan Online. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:31, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

But, writing names with a slash is not really an accepted practice. If you are not sure, can you go with ..and engineer Ali Fodade (also known as Ali Foodade.? Warriorglance(talk to me) 06:20, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Flight

• Mogadishu's Mogadishu International Airport --- remove the repeating word, one is enough

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• on time at 6 a.m. --- If it was scheduled earlier, why is "on time" used?

• I'm not too sure I understand. UPI stated that Passengers at Mogadishu airport said the plane [...] took off on schedule at 6 a.m. local time [...]. So the flight did initially leave on time only to come back. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• on time at 6 a.m. EAT (UTC+03:00) according to passengers at Mogadishu International Airport – en route to Hargeisa Airport in Hargeisa. --- Just asking, passengers provided information?

• Yes. Per UPI, Passengers at Mogadishu airport said the plane [..] took off on schedule at 6 a.m. local time [...]. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• It later returned to Mogadishu for "unspecified" repairs due to an "unspecified" malfunction --- This takes a sarcastic tone due to the repitition of quotation marks. ...due to a malfunction would be enough right?

• We should probably at least mention that it was an unspecified malfunction since "malfunction" is vague. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• It later returned --- This is kind of vague. It should be made clear that the aircraft returned shortly after takeoff i.e Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft returned to Mogadishu...

• The UPI source states that it came back after 15 minutes. I'll add your proposed addition but change "shortly after takeoff" to "After 15 minutes, it returned..." Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Would this work? According to passengers at the airport, fifteen minutes after takeoff, the flight returned to Mogadishu due to an unspecified malfunction, before departing a second time following unspecified repairs. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 15:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Ok this is good Y Warriorglance(talk to me) 15:57, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

 Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 16:06, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• It is the worst aviation accident in Somalia. ---> It remains the deadliest aviation accident in Somalia’s history --- awkward phrasing, makes it clear it is still the deadliest crash in Somalia

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

• Will check other sections later

Aftermath

• who were unavailable for confirmation regarding reports of flight information ---> reportedly unavailable for comment

• Why reportedly? Wouldn't something like "who were unavailable for comment" work?

Yeah, that also works. My main aim was to shorten the sentence. Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:52, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• Authorities withheld from releasing the names of the victims --- remove, not necessary, add "of" also

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:02, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• the term spectators is too informal for a funeral, can be replaced with a suitable term like large number of people.

• Would using the word mourners work? Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:02, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Yes! Thank you, I've been looking for word like this. Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:54, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• members of the ruling "revolutionary council", representatives of "all the armed services" --- why quotes? remove them if you do not have a reason.

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:02, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• consisted of one Dornier Do-228-202s ---> consisted of one Dornier Do-228-202 --- singular noun

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:02, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• Also, I am proposing the last paragraph of the section to be split, separating events occurred in 1989 and 1991. Makes it easier to read

•  Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:02, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

• Just to let you know, I've removed David Gero's book as upon further research, it appears to be self-published. Does the rephrased version still work? Eight years after the accident, on 28 June 1989, 10 minutes after taking off from Hargeisa on route to Mogadishu, the Fokker F27 crashed in a desert area near Hargeisa at around 9:30 a.m.,[2][21] killing all 23 passengers and 7 crew members.[2] Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:11, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

  Yeah, this is Ok. Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:47, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Investigation

• Hiiraan Online stated that ---> Hiiraan Online suggested that

• Is it really a suggestion? It seems like they're directly contesting ASN's account, hence the use of "stating". Aviationwikiflight (talk) 08:22, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

Good point! I made a mistake there, the sentence is OK Y. Warriorglance(talk to me) 10:34, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

• while the plane is on air ---> during flight

• The phrase is contained within a quote. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 08:22, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

Oh sorry, I didn't see that. Well, that's OK then Warriorglance(talk to me) 10:31, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

• Speaking to Hiiraan Online, Ahmed Osman stated that "I was deeply shocked when I heard the aircraft had crashed," --- Here, the sentence suddenly switches from third person to first person, which is not suitable. "I" can be changed to "he" to maintain consistency, and remove quotes.

• I've kept the quotes and added brackets to change the "I" to "he": "[he] was deeply shocked when [he] heard the aircraft had crashed,"... Aviationwikiflight (talk) 08:22, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

That's fine, one minor issue though, you can remove the "and" and start a new sentence there ---> Speaking to Hiiraan Online, Ahmed Osman stated that "[he] was deeply shocked when [he] heard the aircraft had crashed". He also added that there was no operational need for Ali Foodade to board the aircraft in Mogadishu. Warriorglance(talk to me) 10:29, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

 Done. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 13:42, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

Other than this, I did not find any other issues :) Checking sources next.

Checking some sources

Y

Y

Y

--- In this clipping, it is mentioned that the victims were buried in Mogadishu. Any reason?

I took the information from World Vision International but on further inspection, the information comes from a letter solely written by a sick nurse. I guess in this case, AFP (the source that you linked) takes precedence? Aviationwikiflight (talk) 08:22, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

Oh, yes. The information given by the newspaper should be given in this case. Warriorglance(talk to me) 11:08, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Associated Press (AP) also reports buriel spot as Mogadishu. Warriorglance(talk to me) 11:16, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Ah ok, that should clear things up. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:30, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Though, do we keep "the following day" or, since the articles from AFP and AP were published on 22 July, do we say "On 22 July, it was reported..."?

And for the list of attendees, do we keep the information sourced from World Vision International or do we only report those from AFP and AP? Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:33, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Burial date would be fine to use in this case. Warriorglance(talk to me) 11:43, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

What does World Vision say about the list of attendees? Is it the same as AFP and AP? Warriorglance(talk to me) 11:44, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

AP: President Siad Barre and members of the ruling Revolutionary Council

AFP: President Muhammad Siad Barre and top government and military officials.

World Vision International: The service was attended by the Somali president, representatives of all the armed services and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and World Vision’s Mogadishu staff. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 11:49, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

You can add everything. I see no problem in that. Warriorglance(talk to me) 08:01, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

I'm very sorry for being late (6 days already), I'm a little busy, Promise to check other sources ASAP.

It's ok, you can take your time. I'm not in a rush and I'd rather have a thorough review than a rushed one (especially after the issues you've raised above). Aviationwikiflight (talk) 08:22, 10 May 2025 (UTC)

Y

Y

Y

Final thoughts

@Aviationwikiflight: If the above mentioned issue is solved, the article can be raised to GA, unless you have anything more to add?

Wait a minute, Earwig Copyvio detector reports 53% violation. Let me just check with other experienced reviewers about this. I'll get back to you the next day.

Copyright Violation

@Aviationwikiflight: The quotes present in the article taken from Hiraan Online consititute as copyright violation. To quote User:IntentionallyDense, Assuming that the source was written prior to the Wikipedia article (check the revision history and see if the text predates the news article) then yes this is a copyright violation as there are several chunks of text that haven't been changed. So, the only option here is to summarise the quotes and report it in the article. It seems that copying and pasting content is not appropriate. To check Copyvio detector, here's the link. If you are sure that you can solve it, I'll place the review in HOLD.

I'm currently trying to limit the amount of quotes used. No opposition to placing this review on hold. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 14:56, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

@Warriorglance: I think I've managed to address the copyright issues. As it currently stands, I don't think phrases such as all 50 passengers and crew and Somali National Army are really an issue.

The quotes are also minimal, only containing:

• "[he] was deeply shocked when [he] heard the aircraft had crashed."
• "the pilot may have become disoriented and could not recover from an unusual attitude"
• "on account of the weather in Mogadishu in July. There are hardly any thunderstorms in Mogadishu in July, save for light showers. The sky is relatively clear; thus, the pilot's thought of facing a storm is not feasible."

As for the location of the funeral, I just put a note that says that World Vision International wrote that it happened at the scene of the crash. Aviationwikiflight (talk) 12:06, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

All right then, Thanks a lot for the cooperation. Congrats on your first GA! Warriorglance(talk to me) 16:23, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.