Yet another 210 down in Windhoek????!!!!

[210Pilot]

Just heard, V5-BIG down in Windhoek. Anyone with more info? Heard it was a self flyer, pilot of foreign nationality. What is going to be done here?:confused:

[Voel]

So sad, were 5 Swiss nationals on their way to Huab lodge. All survived with minor injury except one guy who had serious inetrnal injuries. Some stories in tommorrow's papers www.namibian.com.na

[Voel]

One guy succumed to his injuries in hospital. He was badly injured and attended to by a medical doctor on the scene, who witnessed the crash landing. So sad.

[nibbio86]

Sorry guys, just a question. I am a charter pilot on the C210 down in Australia, and I'm thinking to move to Namibia in the near future. I've been following the african section of PPRUNE for a while, and I read often of accidents happening in Nam. I would like to know which is the most common cause of these occourences: poor maintenance, pilot error, bad airmanshp....thanks

[Voel]

Been in aviation over 25 years and I can tell you its a mix of all, including ATC.:= But we trying our best to implement the road map for safety, which was discussed between industry and Government in February this year, but that's not easy:ugh: Need to create a safety culture amongst the aviators.:D

[davidjh]

"Been in aviation over 25 years and I can tell you its a mix of all, including ATC." And you age is 38! Are you sure?:rolleyes:

[phirefly]

This is getting out of control! Correct me if i'm wrong...but this is the 13th or 14th incident/accident in the last 18 months!!! :confused:

I agree, these have all been a mixture of pilots error, maintanance, ATC and operators. Yet I think the biggest culprets are the Investigation teams who have not yet concluded ONE of any of these cases!:ugh:

Without conlusive evidance and reason to take corrective actions, this will definately be continuing in Namibian aviation.

God help us!:uhoh:

[Voel]

Another serious incident again yesterday. I fail to understand how a pilot could depart with a C210 with 6 people on board (incl foreign pilot), 5 hours of fuel and 30 C temperature:ugh:. He lost height after take off, but could control the aircraft in the last minute. He opted to return. He was so shocked that he forgot his undercarriage. ATC noticed it in the last minute and warned pilot. He did go-around and landed safely. At the end, the group departed again in 2 C210's

[Voel]

davidjh, the date on my birth certificate is wrong.

[nibbio86]

Not for joking, but aren't you really running out of 210s over there? Are operator going to replace them with 206, Airvans, imported 210s or they're simply continuing with what is left?

[captain danger]

was once many moons ago witness to a current 747 altilalia driver

completely scribble a 206 with 4 on board...in intebbe uganda...:bored:

we managed to pull them all out before she burnt...:D

started the flare at 100ft and then shat ourselves...

whack uuuuuumph...gear cheerio...scrape ..crunch...:yuk:

only comment to me was ...****...the flare caught me man!

heavy drivers should do some training before they are let loose on the lighter stuff..:8

[theRealFlyingNomad]

Could anyone PM me the name of the Pilot and his Health status please (not on open forum)...I have some kind of very very bad feeling...
Thanks
TRFN

[phirefly]

Please read through my thread again very carefully! Not focussing on one sentance...:ok:

Have you ever even been to Africa flying here? Seeing your all the way in UK.:confused:

It doesn't matter how experianced you are, sh#t happens to the BEST of us.:D

[I.R.PIRATE]

**** happens if you allow it to.

These are not accidents.

[theRealFlyingNomad]

ASN Aircraft accident 07-SEP-2008 Cessna 210 V5-BIG (http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=22703)

Doesn't look too lekker...
Very Sad...whatever is the reason...
Fly safe...
TRFN

[ochac]

It boils down to Training, Standards, Experience and control of crew by the companies owning or operating aircraft. In the last 25 years I thiunk that this has been the worst accident rate in any 18 month period. :\

[BBN RADAR]

I have it on good authority that the accident was due to maintenance failing to remove some plastic blocking the air intake.

It will be interesting (and possibly saddening) to see how much damage these accidents are doing to Namibia's tourism industry...

[phirefly]

It was maintenance. correct, as above. Rene Krum was the pilots name, he didn't make it either along with one of the pax.

condolences to all who new them.

[babygoose]

:sad:This is just scary!!!!!!!use to fly over 1000hours on the 210 in Namibia and it was THE best time off my life!!!!!!!But the sight of yet ANOTHER 210 down give me the chills.......
And PLEASE maintence wake up!!this is NOT the first time this year I heard bad stories about maintence!!!!!!:(

[Otjipropa]

For everyones Info! The Pilot is still very much alive. And the rest of the pax are all doing good.

[Doodlebug]

Serious question for those that are in a position to know, please:
How many light aircraft movements are being recorded per year now at FYWE? As opposed to 15 or 20 years ago?

[Stierado]

"I.R.PIRATE

**** happens if you allow it to.

These are not accidents. "

Erghhhh.....what???.....are you saying the pilots/people involved in these crashes killed themselves or tried to kill themselves on purpose !!!!

Or are you saying it was sabotage ?!?

If they are not accidents, then what are they....?!?

[Carrier]

Quote: “If they are not accidents, then what are they....?!?”

CRASHES! Accidents are events that are not foreseeable or are unexpected. As I. R. Pirate pointed out, certain crashes were entirely expectable for one reason or another, usually because some person or persons in a position or capacity to reasonably prevent them failed to act appropriately.

[Stierado]

So your saying that people involved in these "crashes" are willingly flying to their deaths...!?!

By your definition someone in the "chain" is consciously making the decision to let the aircraft have a crash...!?!

Events that led up to an accident are always predictable and foreseable by experts afterwards ....

As I said before...if someone has a "crash", surely its accidental....unless your a crash test dummy, your not willingly going to smash yourself up... are you...!

Quote:
"usually because some person or persons in a position or capacity to reasonably prevent them failed to act appropriately"

true....but not purposefully....that would be sabotage or suicide or manslaughter...

[Voel]

Doodlebug, we pushed 3650 aircraft in Aug 2008 compared to 2178 in Aug 2005. Not much, but its an increase:ok:. I believe a preliminary report on the latest accident will be released next week

[Doodlebug]

Hello Feel, and thanks for the figures!

I don't do sums, but that looks to me like an increase of aircraft-movements of in the region of 67 percent in just 3 years! Obviously we need to factor this increase in the volume of traffic into the big picture when we cite the lamentable increase in the number of accidents.

And whilst some of the antics going on recently can be safely classified as a bit dumb, they've always happened. Was it 15 years ago that the then Director of the D.C.A. ran out of gas in a C210? :E

Still, bietjie rof at the moment...

[abc.fp]

Voel!

You put your foot in this one!

Thanks for the figures of movements. Now tell us about the real scary part!!!

Give us the ATC staff numbers for the same years?

:)

[Voel]

WERNER MENGES

THE deadly plane crash in Windhoek's Hochland Park area 10 days ago was caused by a "human error" - plastic bags were left over the air intake tubes of the aircraft during a maintenance inspection three days before the accident, according to a first report on the investigation of the incident.

Preliminary findings in the investigation released by the Ministry of Works and Transport yesterday have identified a maintenance inspection that was done on the aircraft three days before it was to crash-land in Hochland Park's Papegaien Road as a pivotal event in the run-up to the crash.
During the inspection a foreign object was left on part of the aircraft's engine, it was indicated.
This oversight later had catastrophic results.
Five Swiss visitors to Namibia were on board the Cessna 210 aircraft, V5-BIG, which was operated by a Windhoek-based air charter company, Wings Over Africa, when it took off from Eros Airport shortly before 09h00 on September 7.
'NO SIGNS' The group's intended destination was Huab Lodge in the Kunene Region.
According to the report released yesterday, the pilot noticed no abnormalities during pre-flight checks and during take-off.
After the take-off, everything was still normal and the pilot retracted the plane's undercarriage according to normal procedure while he also reduced the aircraft's engine power to 2 500 revolutions per minute.
"At about 600 feet to 700 feet above ground level, the engine power faded away without any special noise or warning," it is stated in the Ministry's statement, which was signed by Works and Transport Minister Helmut Angula.
The pilot turned the plane to the left to carry out an emergency landing in Papegaien Road, it is related in the statement.
After making contact with the ground, though, the plane's left wing collided with a streetlight pole, and the aircraft swung forcefully to the left.
It struck the boundary walls of four houses before it came to a rest.
A 44-year-old surgeon from Lausanne in Switzerland, Nicolas Peloponissios, was seriously injured in the crash.
He died in a Windhoek hospital a few hours after the accident.
MAINTENANCE According to the Ministry's statement the aircraft had been scheduled for an inspection with an aircraft maintenance organisation at Eros Airport on September 4.
"During the inspection, the air intake tubes (ducts) were removed, air filters were also removed for cleaning and the engine had to be washed with water," it is stated in the report released by the Ministry.
"As per engineers report, plastic bags were used to cover the air intake tubes (ducts) during the engine cleaning process in order to prevent water from entering the air intake tubes (ducts).
The aircraft was ground run before it was delivered back to the owner (Wings over Africa) on the 5th September 2008.
"Investigations revealed that the human error was a contributing factor to the engine loss of power, which resulted in an emergency landing and a subsequent crash in Hochland Park urban area," it was stated.
The Ministry's spokesperson, Julius Ngweda, confirmed on enquiry yesterday that it was found that the plastic bags had not been removed from the air intake tubes after the maintenance inspection.
The investigation into the accident is continuing, with a full report to be released once it has been completed.
The Hochland Park crash was the fifth serious incident in less than 11 months involving an aircraft that had taken off from Eros Airport.
Since late October last year eight people have lost their lives in three fatal crashes of aircraft that had taken off from that airport.
All but one of these accidents remain under investigation.

[Propellerpilot]

West Air AMO ?? Seems they took care of a couple of aircraft that fell... or am I wrong ?

[phirefly]

Has anyone picked up on the fact that West Air was not mentioned in the papers, radio news broadcasts...Nothing!!!! (correct me if wrong)

But let an aircraft operator :mad: up, and its spread all over the show.

Yes, we all know West Air is to blame here, but why are their incidences and accidents never, EVER! publisized????

[Voel]

Human error shatters Westair 41-year maintenance record
Written by By Deon Schlechter
Thursday, 18 September 2008


THE 41 year old flawless record of the country’s largest aviation maintenance facility was dealt a severe blow following the investigation into the latest plane crash at Eros Airport.


The investigation uncovered evidence that Westair Maintenance carried out negligent work on the Cessna 210 that went down in Hochland Park in Windhoek, killing one passenger and injuring three others as well as the Swiss pilot.

The investigation concluded that engineers did not remove a plastic bag fitted over the air pipes of the ill-fated Cessna engine after carrying out maintenance work, and that blockage in the air system caused the crash.
Owner of Westair, Wolfie Grellmann, told Informanté “it was the worst nightmare of my 43 years in Civil Aviation when the investigation showed that human error in our workshops was responsible for the Cessna 210 crashing after take-off.”

He said Westair had built up an impeccable reputation over 41 years, and assured Informanté that it was not a faulty system that led to the piece of metal being found in the engine of the crashed plane during the initial investigation.

“We have been constantly upgrading our maintenance system to adhere to the strict requirements laid down, but one can never rule out the human error.
“Not even the most thorough checking system can detect a tiny piece of hidden metal left behind in the engine once it has been sealed. Checking can then only be done on what is visible.

“We adhere to the highest standards in the industry and believe we have a system in place that can detect any faulty workmanship, but there is no detector for the human factor.

“No mistake is acceptable, but this kind of thing can happen even when a 100% checklist was performed on maintenance work. It is sad, but unfortunately true.”

He said that in 41 years Westair has never been slapped with an insurance claim for sloppy maintenance work.“What the current crash investigation has revealed is the worst news I have received as owner of this reputable maintenance facility in my career.” Informanté has meanwhile learned that the Swiss passengers injured in the disaster, are not considering an insurance claim against Westair for negligence.

They have also indicated that they will not issue a statement on what they experienced on their first visit to Namibia. A visitor to their bedsides in the Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek told Informanté the injured tourists spoke in high regard of their Swiss pilot, Rene Klum, who also survived the crash.

Aviation inspectors and bystanders at the horrible crash site in Windhoek told Informanté the way Klum handled the emergency and the manner in which he put down the Cessna 210 in a confined space “was nothing short of a miracle.” Informanté has established Klum is an ex-Swiss Air pilot with years of experience in the cockpits of jets as well as single-engine planes like the Cessna 210.

[172driver]

Now - was it a plastic bag or a piece of metal ?

:confused:

[nibbio86]

How are going now things there in Windhoek after these accidents? Are you experiencing a sensible reduction in flight hours for the season or everything is as usual?

[Voel]

We are only experiencing a number of engine run-ups after their service