A commercial flight operated by Tanzanian airline Precision Air crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday. CNN reports citing officials that several people who were on the flight were rescued from the lake after the aircrash. However, it is still unclear if there were any fatalities in the crash. The number of passengers on board is also not yet clear.

Reports say that emergency officials are responding at the site on boats. Kagera provincial police commander William Mwampaghale told the press from the site that everything is under control now. 

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“Rescue operations are underway, we have so far rescued several people and eventually we will make sure we have rescued everyone and removed the airplane out of the water,” he said.

What is Precision Air?

Precision Air is a Tanzanian airlines company that operates out of the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. Their primary route is from Nairobi to Entebbe and they operate regular commercial flights between the two cities. Overall, Precision Air flights travel to 14 destinations across Tanzania. 

The company was incorporated in Tanzania back in January 1991 and started its operations two years later in 1993. When it was registered, Precision Air was a private chartered airline company. However, as tourism grew, they changed their status in November 1993 and started offering scheduled commercial flight services.

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The company was privately owned till 2003, but the owners eventually decided to part ways with full ownership after foreign investment interest in Tanzanian Airlines grew. Weeks after South Africa-based South African Airlines acquired 49% state in Air Tanzania for $20 million, Kenya Airways bought a 49% stake in Precision for $2 million. The remaining 51% stayed with company founder and chairman Michael Shirima. 

In 2011, Precision Air came up with its first public offering at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange in which both the previous owners lost a combined 15.86% stake in the company. As of 2016, there were 160, 469, 800 shares in the company owned by four different sets of shareholders.