Wings Aviation Airplane Missing!
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Wings Aviation Airplane Missing!
A kingair airplane belonging to wings Aviation a private airline based in Lagos left lagos this morning for Obudu airstrip and after four hours of her ETA is yet to land at the airstrip. The rescue helicopter was heard this afternoon going to Obudu from Abuja. From a reliable source, the 'skyhawk' based in Port Harcourt Naf Base is not serviceable to assist in the search. Three SOM, all crew were reported.
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Type: Beechcraft 1900D
Operator: Wings Aviation
Registration: 5N-JAH
C/n / msn: UE-322
First flight: 1998
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67D
Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 3
Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 0
Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 3
Airplane damage: Unknown
Location: within Nigeria (Nigeria)
Phase: En route
Nature: Ferry/positioning
Departure airport: Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS/DNMM), Nigeria
Destination airport: Bebi Airstrip, Nigeria
Narrative:
The Beech 1900D airplane took off from Lagos at about 07.35 en route to Obudu. It was expected to arrive at Bebi Airstrip there at approximately 08:45. The aircraft contacted Enugu ATC at 07:54 and again at 8:04 am before contact was lost. It did not arrive at Beb Airstrip and was declared missing.
Operator: Wings Aviation
Registration: 5N-JAH
C/n / msn: UE-322
First flight: 1998
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67D
Crew: Fatalities: / Occupants: 3
Passengers: Fatalities: / Occupants: 0
Total: Fatalities: / Occupants: 3
Airplane damage: Unknown
Location: within Nigeria (Nigeria)
Phase: En route
Nature: Ferry/positioning
Departure airport: Lagos-Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS/DNMM), Nigeria
Destination airport: Bebi Airstrip, Nigeria
Narrative:
The Beech 1900D airplane took off from Lagos at about 07.35 en route to Obudu. It was expected to arrive at Bebi Airstrip there at approximately 08:45. The aircraft contacted Enugu ATC at 07:54 and again at 8:04 am before contact was lost. It did not arrive at Beb Airstrip and was declared missing.
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That was very sad news that I heard today.
I was fortunate to have flown on "5N-JAH" a few times. She was a magnificent looking pristine machine.
God Bless all those lost and their families.
I was fortunate to have flown on "5N-JAH" a few times. She was a magnificent looking pristine machine.
God Bless all those lost and their families.
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Where was the wreckage located and can someone PM the names of the crew members please.
Sad news indeed
May their souls rest in peace and my deepest condolence to their families and loved ones.
Balewa
Sad news indeed
May their souls rest in peace and my deepest condolence to their families and loved ones.
Balewa
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Three other helicopters joined in the search early in the morning yesterday. Two from the Nigerian Maritime Authority(NMA) and another from Rivers state government till five pm. Later from a reliable source , the crash site was located. Sad news. May their souls rest in peace.
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Infomation management and the lack of Synergy..
The recent event (yet to verified as fatal ) has further highlighted the need for total radar coverage of the Nigerian airspace and regular and accurate weather reports and forecasts.
The minister claimed the wreckage has been located, followed four hours later by the NCAA refuting such claims
Apparently there is a conflict or failure in the information management process between the Nigeria Civil aviation authority (NCAA), the ministry of aviation and the air accident investigation branch. We have not yet gotten over the embarrassment caused by similar premature and erroneous public statements that preceded the Bellview accident of 2005. We had hoped to learn from the event, but apparently that was too much to hope for.
The normal scenario is that there should be co-ordinated communication protocols established between these offices and some sort of verification obtained before going to press.
Against logic, some of us have to hope the best for crew of the still missing aircraft.
Co-incidently, last week the Nigerian AIB led by Engr. Oduselu and Capt Usman met with Paul Dike ( Chief of Air staff ) and pledged joint co-operation in search, rescue and accident investigation. I have met all three on various occasions and I think Paul is a man of his words. Let's hope it's not all going to be just hot air and I hope the framework involves NEMA as well.
Unfortunately it takes a sad tragedy like this to put to test claims of the industry managers on their level of preparedness to meet the challenges of ensuring safety, and in the sad event of an accident, their ability to carry out prompt and efficient search, rescue and conclusive constructive investigations.
The minister claimed the wreckage has been located, followed four hours later by the NCAA refuting such claims
Apparently there is a conflict or failure in the information management process between the Nigeria Civil aviation authority (NCAA), the ministry of aviation and the air accident investigation branch. We have not yet gotten over the embarrassment caused by similar premature and erroneous public statements that preceded the Bellview accident of 2005. We had hoped to learn from the event, but apparently that was too much to hope for.
The normal scenario is that there should be co-ordinated communication protocols established between these offices and some sort of verification obtained before going to press.
Against logic, some of us have to hope the best for crew of the still missing aircraft.
Co-incidently, last week the Nigerian AIB led by Engr. Oduselu and Capt Usman met with Paul Dike ( Chief of Air staff ) and pledged joint co-operation in search, rescue and accident investigation. I have met all three on various occasions and I think Paul is a man of his words. Let's hope it's not all going to be just hot air and I hope the framework involves NEMA as well.
Unfortunately it takes a sad tragedy like this to put to test claims of the industry managers on their level of preparedness to meet the challenges of ensuring safety, and in the sad event of an accident, their ability to carry out prompt and efficient search, rescue and conclusive constructive investigations.
Last edited by DRPAM007; 25th Mar 2008 at 14:36.
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Plane Still Not Found
There are reports that after all, the report that the missing plane has been found was false .THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE and calls for an investigation.
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=106226
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/...issing%20plane
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=106226
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/...issing%20plane
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Here we go again
I find it quite appaulling that the DG NCAA and the Minister of State of Aviation have made misleading statements pertaining to the whereabouts of the ill fated Wings Aviation aircraft, taking into consideration the sensitivity of this issue. It is quite an embarassment for the country. If these are the kind of errornous statements being made before the investigation you can only start to imagine what the ensuing investigation will be like (a sham). We only seem to get the results of the investigations, if the conclusion is deemed pilot error. We are all still awaiting the investigation of Bellview 737 crash (missing blackbox syndrome 
). And the so called search and rescue in Nigeria is none existant and I find it quite scary that even if you are fotunate enough to survive an accident, you will probaby die of your injuries while you wait for some unfortunate farmer to locate you because NEMA or whatever it is called will not find you. It is about time for Nigeria Aviation to wake up. And to my fallen collegues may your gentle souls rest in perfect peace and may the good Lord give their familes the strenght to bear this great loss at this time.
). And the so called search and rescue in Nigeria is none existant and I find it quite scary that even if you are fotunate enough to survive an accident, you will probaby die of your injuries while you wait for some unfortunate farmer to locate you because NEMA or whatever it is called will not find you. It is about time for Nigeria Aviation to wake up. And to my fallen collegues may your gentle souls rest in perfect peace and may the good Lord give their familes the strenght to bear this great loss at this time.
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Please Pass Position Of Possible Crash Site
To all out there,
I'm not sure who has connections to the Search and Rescue in Nigeria. I work here at the Australian Search and Rescue/COSPAS SARSAT Mission Control Centre and picked up the 406Mhz distress signal from possibly the aeroplane in question, twenty-two hours ago, precisely at 171100UTC. The beacon is still active as I can see on my screen here in Australia. I'm unsure at this stage if this detection is linked to this discussion. It's an ELT with HEX ID 2DC8381174FFBFF. The position is as follows; 04 19.3N 005 49.6E
Contact the company if the above HEX ID matches that of the missing aircraft. For those of us who deal with satellite derived positions, the accuracy could be within a radius of 5 nautical miles.
Please pass on as soon as possible. There could still be somebody alive, as the beacon is still very much sending out signals. Someone alive could have set it off! Let us forget the politics and save someone as soon as we can. I am bypassing protocols here as well.
I'm not sure who has connections to the Search and Rescue in Nigeria. I work here at the Australian Search and Rescue/COSPAS SARSAT Mission Control Centre and picked up the 406Mhz distress signal from possibly the aeroplane in question, twenty-two hours ago, precisely at 171100UTC. The beacon is still active as I can see on my screen here in Australia. I'm unsure at this stage if this detection is linked to this discussion. It's an ELT with HEX ID 2DC8381174FFBFF. The position is as follows; 04 19.3N 005 49.6E
Contact the company if the above HEX ID matches that of the missing aircraft. For those of us who deal with satellite derived positions, the accuracy could be within a radius of 5 nautical miles.
Please pass on as soon as possible. There could still be somebody alive, as the beacon is still very much sending out signals. Someone alive could have set it off! Let us forget the politics and save someone as soon as we can. I am bypassing protocols here as well.
Last edited by AircraftCarrier; 18th Mar 2008 at 09:16. Reason: More Info
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emmergency emmergency
Please Pass Position Of Possible Crash Site
To all out there,
I'm not sure who has connections to the Search and Rescue in Nigeria. I work here at the Australian Search and Rescue/COSPAS SARSAT Mission Control Centre and picked up the 406Mhz distress signal from possibly the aeroplane in question, twenty-two hours ago, precisely at 171100UTC. The beacon is still active as I can see on my screen here in Australia. I'm unsure at this stage if this detection is linked to this discussion. It's an ELT with HEX ID 2DC8381174FFBFF. The position is as follows; 04 19.3N 005 49.6E
Contact the company if the above HEX ID matches that of the missing aircraft. For those of us who deal with satellite derived positions, the accuracy could be within a radius of 5 nautical miles.
Please pass on as soon as possible. There could still be somebody alive, as the beacon is still very much sending out signals. Someone alive could have set it off! Let us forget the politics and save someone as soon as we can. I am bypassing protocols here as well.
Last edited by AircraftCarrier : Today at 09:16. Reason: More Info
To all out there,
I'm not sure who has connections to the Search and Rescue in Nigeria. I work here at the Australian Search and Rescue/COSPAS SARSAT Mission Control Centre and picked up the 406Mhz distress signal from possibly the aeroplane in question, twenty-two hours ago, precisely at 171100UTC. The beacon is still active as I can see on my screen here in Australia. I'm unsure at this stage if this detection is linked to this discussion. It's an ELT with HEX ID 2DC8381174FFBFF. The position is as follows; 04 19.3N 005 49.6E
Contact the company if the above HEX ID matches that of the missing aircraft. For those of us who deal with satellite derived positions, the accuracy could be within a radius of 5 nautical miles.
Please pass on as soon as possible. There could still be somebody alive, as the beacon is still very much sending out signals. Someone alive could have set it off! Let us forget the politics and save someone as soon as we can. I am bypassing protocols here as well.
Last edited by AircraftCarrier : Today at 09:16. Reason: More Info
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Hey mate,
If those co-ordinates are correct than that aircraft was way off course or the original route has been misinterpreted.
I hope you are correct.
Surely other agencies are helping to trace the wreckage?
If those co-ordinates are correct than that aircraft was way off course or the original route has been misinterpreted.
I hope you are correct.
Surely other agencies are helping to trace the wreckage?
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Sincere thanks for the valuable location information “Aircraft carrier”. Sometimes it is inevitable that we break protocol. Nothing is more satisfying than saving of lives by our actions.
Having fruitlessly tried to pass the location information to the NAMA GM Search and rescue, the Lagos RCC and the Enugu sub-RCC, I had to call the NAMA MD personally (happens to be a classmate of mine). They were quite pleased with information and were in the process of liaising with NEMA as I write.
A few calls to my journalist friends in Nigeria confirmed that the search for the missing aircraft is still in earnest. It may surprise you to know that it was the African independent television (AIT) aviation desk news crew that located the crash site of the Bellview B737 in October 2005. Strange, but true. Not a good score for our search and rescue agency. Hopefully, we’ll see some improvement this time.
My sincere hope and concern now is that we find the missing crew alive. In the optimistic scenario that a successful emergency landing was executed in a remote and inaccessible location without serious/critical injuries, the chances of being rescued alive after 72 hours may appear slim, but nonetheless quite possible. We await the result of the search.
For anyone with interested in the Nigerian safety issues, here’s something that may be of interest. http://nigeriaaviationsafety.org/WHEN_SAFETY_COMES_LAST.html.
Finally, it is heart warming to know that the synergic contributions of professionals in a forum like this, will enhance the safety of the environment we work and live in.
Thanks again to “Aircarftcarrier” and I’ll appreciate if you can contact me on [email protected].
Having fruitlessly tried to pass the location information to the NAMA GM Search and rescue, the Lagos RCC and the Enugu sub-RCC, I had to call the NAMA MD personally (happens to be a classmate of mine). They were quite pleased with information and were in the process of liaising with NEMA as I write.
A few calls to my journalist friends in Nigeria confirmed that the search for the missing aircraft is still in earnest. It may surprise you to know that it was the African independent television (AIT) aviation desk news crew that located the crash site of the Bellview B737 in October 2005. Strange, but true. Not a good score for our search and rescue agency. Hopefully, we’ll see some improvement this time.
My sincere hope and concern now is that we find the missing crew alive. In the optimistic scenario that a successful emergency landing was executed in a remote and inaccessible location without serious/critical injuries, the chances of being rescued alive after 72 hours may appear slim, but nonetheless quite possible. We await the result of the search.
For anyone with interested in the Nigerian safety issues, here’s something that may be of interest. http://nigeriaaviationsafety.org/WHEN_SAFETY_COMES_LAST.html.
Finally, it is heart warming to know that the synergic contributions of professionals in a forum like this, will enhance the safety of the environment we work and live in.
Thanks again to “Aircarftcarrier” and I’ll appreciate if you can contact me on [email protected].
Last edited by DRPAM007; 18th Mar 2008 at 21:52.
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I just got a call from Nigeria advising the HEX ID of the missing craft. It did not match the one we just detected. That we have found out is coming from an oil platform in the Niger Delta, possibly from a Helo. The signal has was not detected on the last satellite pass. So, the word could have gone around to the owners. We are still working on the HEX ID of the Aircraft in question. The details have just been made available to us.
From experience, it is not uncommon to find a distressed aircraft way off its planned flight path. On one rare incident, a KingAir flew past its destination without contacting the Air Traffic Control. Guess what happened when we intercepted it, both Pilots and passengers were all unconcious! There was nothing that could be done in the air, except follow them to where the auto-pilot took them to. Needless to say what the outcome was!
Another reported conducting an Instrument Approach in IMC conditions within the vicinity of the destination airport and disappeared. We found it way off the Instrument Approach path.
We dont take chances when it comes to Search And Rescue. We work with every bit of intelligence we can get.
I am very impressed how effective this forum is and the high level of concern people show towards helping one another.
Keep it up guys.
From experience, it is not uncommon to find a distressed aircraft way off its planned flight path. On one rare incident, a KingAir flew past its destination without contacting the Air Traffic Control. Guess what happened when we intercepted it, both Pilots and passengers were all unconcious! There was nothing that could be done in the air, except follow them to where the auto-pilot took them to. Needless to say what the outcome was!
Another reported conducting an Instrument Approach in IMC conditions within the vicinity of the destination airport and disappeared. We found it way off the Instrument Approach path.
We dont take chances when it comes to Search And Rescue. We work with every bit of intelligence we can get.
I am very impressed how effective this forum is and the high level of concern people show towards helping one another.
Keep it up guys.
Last edited by AircraftCarrier; 18th Mar 2008 at 16:57.
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sat coverage
pls i would like to know how long its takes to pick up a distress signal from an elt and what is the possibility that the airplane involved has the 406 transmitter unboard, as i know most airplanes are still fitted with the 121.5 and 243mhz elt in nigeria which can only trasmitt for48hrs
why is is that even at this point in time no ground equipment can pick up the signals if still active from the nigerian airpspace management agency, nema or the airforce i tink its just a big shame and very saddening to know we dont have simple emmergency equipments to help save lifes in nigeria and for how long are we going to continue to accept the no challent attitude of some these people involved its been a sad week so far for me regardess of the fact that i do not personally know any of the crew unboard that airplane but what i do know is
its could be my brother, my father or friend
from my training i also know by law nd standards in regards to the will and knowledge of survival someone might still be alive
i hope by the end of the day someone will come up with some concrete information on the precise location of the airplane in question
why is is that even at this point in time no ground equipment can pick up the signals if still active from the nigerian airpspace management agency, nema or the airforce i tink its just a big shame and very saddening to know we dont have simple emmergency equipments to help save lifes in nigeria and for how long are we going to continue to accept the no challent attitude of some these people involved its been a sad week so far for me regardess of the fact that i do not personally know any of the crew unboard that airplane but what i do know is
its could be my brother, my father or friend
from my training i also know by law nd standards in regards to the will and knowledge of survival someone might still be alive
i hope by the end of the day someone will come up with some concrete information on the precise location of the airplane in question
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Who Cares?
No one really cares.Ours is a wasted generation, that never learns from ours or anybodys mistake,all we are interested in is MONEY.Dont be suprised the door has just opened for the agencies responsible for SAR to start thinking of purchase for new helos as this maybe one of the reasons why the SAR unit is not effective or hey the sleeping giant of Africa NO SAR.My heart bleeds for the families of the missing Airmen and for the rest of the gang that wake up each day to take to the skies above a snoring, tired and defeated giant.We must arise and fight against such sloppiness,ineptness and unprofessional attitude of the agencies that are paid with taxpayers money to ensure and regulate safety;who knows,whose turn it will be next to end up missing.Bluetail was on the missing list at the nations backyard for almost 48 hours.Lest i go on and on I WEEP