Typical politicized response. Throw some spin on the accident, and feather your response by incorporating comments from the report such as
“In the majority of aircraft accidents over the years, there have been multiple contributing factors. The AIC Report clearly points to the fact that the forced landing near Madang was no exception - with human factors, “a systemic design issue” and other factors all combining to cause this tragic event”. APNG have conveniently left out admitting here that the root cause of the accident was that the PIC stuffed up! If he had not incorrectly selected the levers through the gate in the first place the overspeed would not have occurred and a perfectly serviceable aircraft would not have crashed killing 28 people. There were many many Dash 8’s flying around the world at the time of this accident and you didn’t see them crashing from incorrect selections.
APNG says “The Report identifies that the crew unintentionally selected the aircraft’s power levers below flight idle (effectively into reverse) whilst in flight”. Obviously the PIC never intended to crash a plane on that fateful day, however he did make a fundamental inexcusable error which caused this accident.
APNG says “The AIC Report also noted that a similar pilot error had occurred on several previous occasions elsewhere in the world. That action caused the aircraft’s propellers to overspeed, which in turn triggered the events that left the flight crew no option but to force land the aircraft”. What APNG leaves out however is that with the Madang crash is that after the PIC made his mistake and all hell broke loose the pilots did not use the QRH, the pilots did not use emergency procedures, the pilots spent too much time talking to the tower, and the pilots had not received training for such a potential occurrence, and the company was at fault for that. In fact the report says that even after selecting reverse they still could have probably saved the aircraft and prevented the crash.
I believe the press release is not only evasive and some might say misleading, it is a slap in the face for the innocent who died and the loved ones they have left behind. The CEO, Managing Director and Board members should hang their heads in shame for agreeing to and/or authorising this response. What a disgrace and an attempt to shift the blame. APNG yet again have blood on their hands and yet again act dishonoraably with their response.
ACOUNTABILITY ACOCUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY I say. Someone needs to be held to account over this accident.
The pathetic press release is here;
News