Mrs. Oduah
WHAT caused last Sunday’s Dana Air plane crash in Iju-Ishaga on the outskirts of Lagos?
The question remained unresolved yesterday, even as the troubled airline faulted the claim by Aviation Minister Mrs. Stella Oduah that its crashed plane lost its two engines before the fatality.
It described the assertion as premature and urged Nigerians to await the analyses of the culprit voice recorder (Black Box) on the flight.
The airline said it was imperative to set the records straight as experts in the industry have continued to adduce reasons for the crash of the MD 83 aircraft following the transcription of the control tower conversation with the pilot.
Mrs. Oduah informed the President in a preliminary report that the loss of two engines caused the crash.
But Dana Air Director of Flight Operations Captain Oscar Wason, who spoke at a news conference in Lagos, explained that though the pilot reportedly declared failing engine during his emergency report to the air traffic controllers, it was unprofessional to reach such conclusions.
Wason said there could be regulatory approval for a pilot to fly an aircraft with a single engine, so long as it has the capacity to take the aircraft to the next airport for an emergency landing.
He affirmed that as much as Dana Air is set to fully cooperate with investigators, it is totally unacceptable for people to speculate on the cause of the crash as doing that could jeopardise the outcome of the investigation.
Wason denied that the ill- fated aircraft was carrying out a “ ferry” or test flight when it crashed. It is against regulatory approval for any airline to carry passengers with an aircraft on a test flight.
He said : “ We cannot, at the moment, determine the cause of the crash, as people have been engaged in speculations that the failure of the two engines caused the crash. That is not true; those are mere speculations. Even an aircraft could fly with one engine , in the event that the alternate engine packs up, to fly it to the next airport for an emergency landing. From what we heard, the pilot reported engine failure to the control tower, while he was declaring emergency. It is not clear that the pilot said it was the two engines, whether the engine on the left or right side. That is only one account.
“We need to wait for the parameters of the black boxes to tell us what happened to the aircraft,” Wason said.
He debunked the rumour that the pilot tried to jump out of the aircraft, saying:
“ It is wrong that the two engines packed up. Everybody on board died at the point of impact; even the pilot was burnt beyond recognition. Thus, it is wrong for anybody to say that the pilot tried to jump out of the aircraft.”
All passengers, including those whose names were not on the manifest, will be compensated as long as their familiy members can identify the bodies and fulfill all the conditions of documentation for insurance,” he said.
Wason gave the nationality of the passengers and crew members on board as: Four Americans, including three children of the Anyene family, that were born in the United States, and the pilot.
Others are Lebanese, French Canadian and Chinese citizens.
Wason siad Dana Air has been sourcing its spare parts for all its MD 83 aircraft for major repairs at a maintenance repair and overhaul facility at Mytechnic Engineering in Istanbul Turkey, where Turkish Airlines carries out its checks, in addition to a facility in Madrid, where Iberia Airlines carries out its checks.
He added that nothing is wrong with the MD 83 aircraft that Dana Air flies, as there are over 900 of the aircraft type older than the ones in its fleet flown by both American and Delta Airlines in the United States .
On the controversy over the manifest, Wason said: “ The gap that existed in the passenger manifest arose from booking issues, as some passengers that were booked to fly during the pre- flight stage did not turn up.
“We had another passenger manifest, which is the post flight manifest. The variation or gap in the list was due to booking issues.
“The aircraft that crashed is not the same aircraft that had a technical problem in Uyo. And it was not on a ferry flight, as speculated.”
He spoke of plans by Dana Air to send relief materials to the families that have been displaced as a result of the crash, adding that 35 persons have been slated to receive such assistance materials.
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