Lately, there have been a rash of airline incidents and crashes. And on Wednesday, the Congo transport ministry grounded two airlines following an investigation into to a crash that killed 13 people. The Congo is also investigating a crash on June 21 that killed one person. Luckily, 25 people abroad that plane survived.

Transport Minister Remy Henri Kuseryo Gatanga also suspended the manager of Kongolo aerodrome and the director of civil aviation in Kinshasa "pending the conclusions of an enquiry into Seunday's accident," a ministry statement said Wednesday. Karibu Airways pilot Isaac Besongo has also been stripped of his licence.

At Kongolo, GLBC's Antonov 32 cargo plane carrying three Russian crew and 12 Congolese passengers crashed and burst into flames after trying to turn round shortly after take-off, apparently because of engine trouble.

The only survivors were a young Congolese man and a two-year-old boy, both among those thrown from the plane when it hit the ground and later taken to hospital, local authorities said.

In June's accident, all but one of the 25 people aboard the plane survived since it ploughed down into swampland after taking off from Kamina headed for the provincial capital Lubumbashi, but four people were badly injured.

The GLBC, based in the eastern Nord-Kivu province where the Antonov had been headed, is on a UN list of people and businesses targetted by sanctions for the transport of arms and ammunition in the DRC, a vast nation whose people endured a rebel and regional wars fought on its soil from 1998-2003. Parts of the east are still prey to violence and serious human rights abuses.

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