Pilot Error Blamed in Death of Rebel Leader

Pilot error was to blame for the helicopter crash that killed former rebel leader John Garang and set off protests in the Sudanese capital and southern cities, an investigation concluded.

Garang’s death in July led to protests in the capital, Khartoum, and in southern cities in which at least 130 people were killed, raising fears that a pact that had ended a 21-year civil war could collapse.

Investigators found that the pilot of the craft bringing Garang to Sudan from Uganda had continued flying without navigational aids despite deteriorating weather.