On Oct. 5, DR Congo President Joseph Kabila fired Transport Minister Remy Henri Kuseyo Gatanga in the aftermath of the recent An-26 crash that killed at least 37 people and possibly as many as 51, both aboard the aircraft and on the ground in a heavily populated area of Kinshasa, where the aircraft plowed through a number of homes and burst into flames shortly after takeoff.

A presidential spokesperson said in televised remarks that the transport minister was terminated "for being incapable of reforming the aviation sector." The nation has a poor aviation safety record that has many of its airlines on the blacklist of carriers not allowed to operate to the EU.