Why the plane crashed, by minister
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A MINUTE-BY-MINUTE account of how an ADC Airlines plane crashed last Sunday in Abuja was yesterday given by the Minister of Aviation, Babalola Borishade.
According to the minister, the crash, which was caused by inclement weather, could have been averted if the plane's pilot had heeded the advice of the Air Traffic Control.
Excerpts from the minister's statement reads:
- The ADC flight originated in Calabar early Sunday morning, and flew to Lagos; it departed Lagos as a combined Abuja/Sokoto service;
- At 1114 local time, the crew of the aircraft requested start-up clearance from Abuja Tower (Aerodrome Control); this was given along with the appropriate weather information;
- At 1121, the crew requested clearance to taxi to the holding in and a wind check; both were given;
Over the following six minutes Abuja Tower gave a series of six wind reports, including a statement emphasising the gusty nature of the wind.
- It should also be noted that the weather was obviously deteriorating in rain and gusty wind with heavy thunderstorms and lightning activity around the vicinity of the airfield, a well-known pattern for this time of the year;
- At 1126, the crew of ADK 053 further requested clearance for immediate take-off, and the Air Traffic Controller re-emphasised the deteriorating weather condition and gave latest wind check, which they acknowledged;
- At 1127, the crew of VGN 042 requested a wind check, and stated that their own estimation was "more like 35 knots". They opted to wait for an improvement in the weather. It is noteworthy however, that ADK 053 was still on the ground at the time and the crew must have heard this exchange;
- Notwithstanding the Air Traffic Control advisory and the deteriorating weather conditions, the ADK 053 crew opted to proceed with the take-off;
- At the time, NIMET (National Institute of Meteorology) were reporting a cloud base of 300m. Shortly after take-off, the aircraft entered cloud and visual contact was lost;
- At 1128, Abuja Tower gave the ADK 053 their airborne time and directed the crew to contact Abuja Approach. This transmission was not acknowledged.
- All efforts to raise a response from ADK 053 by air traffic control units in Abuja and Kano, and by other aircraft, were unproductive;
- At 1132, the aircraft was declared missing and NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) was alerted accordingly;
- At 1138, following a report from a local farmer of the crashed aircraft, the crash alarm was sounded and Search and Rescue operations launched;
- Rescue units reached the crash site at about 11.53 with local farmers and villagers already at the scene helping with rescue operations;
- The terrain did not permit access by large FAAN (Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria) fire tenders, but mobile units on foot were able to access the site and evacuate survivors and address a number of fires and commence retrieval of bodies scattered over a large area;
- Survivors were initially brought to the FAAN Airport Clinic before being moved on to the National Hospital, Abuja; and
- Bodies were brought to a temporary facility at the FAAN Airport Fire Station from where they were transferred to eight different mortuaries in Abuja.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article05
The AIB has since gone to sleep.Borishade has done the job
