The bureau said the crew, prior to departure, expressed some concerns about the plane.
Despite the concerns, the crew still flew the aircraft, which was conveying the corpse of the former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu. The plane eventually crashed and killed over 15 persons.
The Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, AIB, Capt. Muhtar Usman, who spoke at the headquarters of the bureau in Abuja on Friday, said, “The Flight Data Recorder contains several engine related parameters which the AIB is studying. At this point, we can state that the right engine appears to be producing considerable less thrust than the left engine.“A warning configuration setting suggests that the flaps were not in the correct position for take-off and there is some evidence that the crew may have chosen not to use the flaps for take-off.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
I am highly impressed by the analytical and simplistically suggestive nature of the preliminary report by the AIB regarding the recent Associated Airlines Flight 361 air disaster.
ReplyDeleteFollowing from the preliminary report, even a little child will tell that the Captain was indecisive in his role as the chief decision maker on board the ill fated flight. Worse still, is the suggestive evidence that even though he knew the plane had mechanical problems, he decided to perform some 'James Bond' stunts by going ahead to fly a more or less dead plane (or at-least a plane with a dead engine) loaded with passengers.
Taking a look at the following highlighted issues below, it becomes clear that the Captain erred greatly in his capacity as a Captain and an Administrative decision maker shouldered with the double cap responsibilities of not just keeping his plane out of harm's way but also of ensuring that passengers have an enjoyable safe trip to their destination.
Evidences of Captain's errors and indecision:
1. Before taking off, himself and the First Officer are said to have been discussing the (ill) state of the plane. He seemed to be aware the plane wasn't in a perfect shape for flying at that time, but he overlooked the issue.
2. Various, REPEATED Onboard computer warnings and sensor signals kept indicating that the plane had some mechanical faults that may jeopardize the flight's success and safety but again, he ignored the repeated warnings.
3. The situation gets more disturbing as the First Officer who also doubles as the co-pilot expressed his deep concerns regarding the poor speed performance of the relatively small aircraft and even had to advise the Captain to go 'gently' on the ailing aircraft. This simply shows that the First Officer clearly had his doubts that the plane which was already mal-performing this way barely 30 seconds into the take-off procedures may never successfully make a trip of over 3 minutes in the air. To him, aborting the take-off was certainly the only reasonable option but to the Captain, well, you have the guess.
4. The Flight Controller at the Control Tower who had been monitoring the progress of the take-off of the ill fated flight, noticed some anomalies and was quick to ask the Flight's Cabin crew if all was well and if they won't need to abort the flight (flight 361). Surprisingly, the Captain never responded!
Without sounding immodest, I am of the opinion that the Captain must have flown the plane or another plane in similar circumstances with some degree of success.
Such a move in the past must have made him self-confident that since he succeeded in past scenarios of this nature, this too won't be an exception.
But alas, this proved different.
How sad, to think of all the lives that were lost (along with the loss of the plane itself by Associated Airlines). It was definitely a preventable huge loss, which, in my opinion, has resulted not from equipment failure but from human error!
If it were possible to roll back the hands of the clock of time, simply swapping the position of the the two flight officers, the Captain and First Officer, would have seen the plane aborting the takeoff and getting all the passengers dis-embarking safely back at the airport.
May we not experience any more air disasters in Nigeria again, Amen.
ReplyDeleteMay we not experience any more air disasters in Nigeria again, Amen.
By the way, I have always been fascinated by airplanes and flying, but certain issues greatly disturb me about the Aviation world.
It is a bit worrisome and often annoying, to say the least, that about 65% of loss of precious human lives and aircraft are owing to design laxities on the part
of aircraft manufacturers.
Based on the fact that certain safety provisions are left out in PASSENGER AIRCRAFT designs ON PURPOSE, it will seem as if the designers intentionally send
passengers to their early graves such that if they face ANY emergency mid-air, THEY ( Crew + Passengers + Aircraft) ALL PERISH!
Why is this so? I may never know.
I can only guess the probable reason to be that if the Airlines loose some planes, they are bound to acquire some more in order to remain in business. So, that
should mean that the more plane crashes that occur worldwide, the more planes the Aircraft Designers/Manufacturers will sell thereby making more money.
Come to think of it, a typical plane can be over 25 years of age and still fly the skies. If Airliners don't loose their existing planes, Manufacturers believe
they, as Manufacturers, may not make new sales in the next couple of decades!
Take a look at a military Jet-Bomber (A terrifying war-bird in the skies) which takes only two human occupants (Pilot and Navigator), at the slightest sign of
system failure or imminent crash the two occupants quickly EJECT from the doomed aircraft and start to parachute downwards to safety thereby saving their lives
as they jettison the multi-billion Dollar ill-fated Jet Bomber plane.
Also, there are other larger types of military aircrafts that convey troops on secret missions which open a hatch mid-air for the paratroopers to jump down and
parachute themselves secretly into enemy regions to take the enemy by surprise.
Why are passenger planes such as the AIRBUS which takes about 200 passengers not installed with such EMERGENCY PASSENGER PARACHUTING FACILITY such that when
faced with an imminent plane crash danger mid-air, an emergency hatch opens to allow passengers jump down and parachute themselves to safety, thereby saving
their lives?
Why are passenger planes allowed to fly blind and collide with objects and other planes mid-air?
Military ships and planes have a facility called RADAR which x-rays moving objects and obstacles around the military ship or plane.
Why don't they install a similar facility in passenger planes to allow cabin crew see moving objects and obstacles such as high rise structures that pose a
danger of running into as they fly the skies. This sort of feature will definitely reduce the incidences of two planes colliding mid-air or flying into
obstructions in the air.
Again, why don't the Designers incorporate adequate and appropriate sensors, avionics, autopilot and onboard computer programming to dis-allow faulty aircrafts
(such as the ill fated Associated Airlines Flight 361 which was already faulty before it commenced take-off) from taking off while still on the ground, and
likewise start the emergency passengers parachuting procedure if already in the air when the fault happens. These moves will certainly save a lot of lives and
planes.
Engines are wonderful creations of man. They make our lives more meaningful. Good as they are, they can disappoint when we least expect, even new engines can
ReplyDeletefail.
Every passenger plane has some standard engines installed on them. A car that moves on ground has a spare tyre even though there is a Tyre failure that does not
mean the car would crash. A plane relies on all its installed engines for continued safe flying.
The failure of an engine mid-air for an air-borne plane is sure to put the plane, crew and passengers in a very dangerous situation often leading to a huge loss
of human lives and properties.
Why don't plane designers incorporate some kind of an EMERGENCY SPARE ENGINE to be built in to the tail area of the fuselage. This emergency spare engine will
ONLY be activated in the face of danger during an emergency so as to facilitate a safe landing at the nearest airport or any other safe landing area within quick
reach.
The emergency engine will help propel the plane forward at low altitude (at the loss of the actual engines) as the plane glides forward trying to locate the
nearest place to effect an emergency landing. This feature will most certainly save a lot of human lives and of course, the planes too.
In the Automotive industry, modern high-end cars are fitted with all manner of safety gadgets, sensors and automated controllers some of which are so advanced we
can only imagine how they were arrived at.
Some of the common ones include ASD, ABS, SRS, NAVIGATION SYSTEM, GPS, DRIVER FATIGUE ALERT (Anti sleep), and even SELF-REINFLATING TYRE MECHANISM for some
special posh cars. All these cars are expensive, but the features that come with them are mind blowing. This shows that highly advanced technologies are
available today, but at a price which only the rich can afford.
For the cheaper class of modern cars, some of them may be lucky to have ABS (Assisted Braking System) and SRS (Supplemental Restraint System, Airbags) but not
the other features mentioned above which have been reserved for the more expensive class of cars.
In my opinion, the same applies in the Aviation industry.
A lot of manufacturers have reserved the best technologies for military aircrafts and space shuttles as the expensive class of aircrafts while they have
continued to produce passenger planes without meaningful life saving features, as the cheap class of aircrafts.
It is now left to you and I and indeed every one in a position to make a positive difference towards impacting the Aviation world in our own way so that the
paradigm shift we create today will help save billions of lives in times to come.
By the way (With due respect for the dead), when Agagu was Aviation Minister in this country, he never knew that the things he did or never did in office will
one day affect his son Feyi directly.
The life you help save today in your own capacity may be your grandchild's or even yours!
Happy day Nigeria.
It is political if they could ignore all the signs
ReplyDeleteAccording to the report the two pilots were'nt in agreement. The other one wants to live;while his friend chose death to die ,so is political, then as now is a lesson for airline-operator to make sure there is a proper maintainance immediately before take-off,and not yesterday before takeoff
ReplyDelete