Missing aircraft (with Aussies) Yaounde - Mbalam
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Staffordshire UK
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Steve
I'm sort of sorry to all the aviators that this thread has become something of a tribute to Steve, but I like many others have been searching for news since the first reports surfaced. Thank you for the objective information on what's happened or happening. Please keep it coming.
I am not a flier, but like "mbowde" (hiya Ned) was at school with Steve and kept in distant contact, seeing him last in April when he visited the UK - a memorable evening. As the many comments testify, Steve was a top guy with a big heart, great sense of humour and a passion for flying.
Friends in contact with his mother are doing what they can here in the UK whilst allowing the family to grieve, but I gather the picture is still confused. I understand - and I may be wrong - she wishes Steve's remains to be buried in Africa where he felt most at home. If so there may be an opportunity for those who knew him there to gather together again and celebrate the good times. I'd like to think that in due course some of us will similarly have a wake for him here in the UK to remember the many laughs he brought us.
Thanks also to those who've added photos. Can I suggest it'd be fitting - but that this perhaps isn't the place - to be able to gather more of them together so we can all share in his rich life. If anyone has any ideas of how or where to do so, I've some to contribute (contact me offline). Perhaps this is something to do after we've established who are the friends & family and who are just the reporters (I'm Duncan Mather - an ex-engineer, former expat and now solicitor in the UK if anyone needs to check me out as genuine).
Thank you all again for helping the rest of us come to terms with Steve's tragic final departure. We'll all miss him.
I am not a flier, but like "mbowde" (hiya Ned) was at school with Steve and kept in distant contact, seeing him last in April when he visited the UK - a memorable evening. As the many comments testify, Steve was a top guy with a big heart, great sense of humour and a passion for flying.
Friends in contact with his mother are doing what they can here in the UK whilst allowing the family to grieve, but I gather the picture is still confused. I understand - and I may be wrong - she wishes Steve's remains to be buried in Africa where he felt most at home. If so there may be an opportunity for those who knew him there to gather together again and celebrate the good times. I'd like to think that in due course some of us will similarly have a wake for him here in the UK to remember the many laughs he brought us.
Thanks also to those who've added photos. Can I suggest it'd be fitting - but that this perhaps isn't the place - to be able to gather more of them together so we can all share in his rich life. If anyone has any ideas of how or where to do so, I've some to contribute (contact me offline). Perhaps this is something to do after we've established who are the friends & family and who are just the reporters (I'm Duncan Mather - an ex-engineer, former expat and now solicitor in the UK if anyone needs to check me out as genuine).
Thank you all again for helping the rest of us come to terms with Steve's tragic final departure. We'll all miss him.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: England
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Help with some questions for Raymond Griesbaum
Help would be much appreciated by anyone who can direct me, in confidence, to Raymond Griesbaum, boss of Aero Service. A few questions need answering by him. Raymond seems to have vanished, which is causing a degree of concern to those picking up the pieces of this accident. Any assistance would be most welcome. You can contact me by private message here.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Congo Sundance Aircrash
Hi Onetrack,
Maybe you can help. You seem to know a bit about the Congo Air crash carrying the Sundance executives. Do you know if there has been an outcome as to the cause of the crash? Has this been released? Do you have any other details? Also conflicting reports - was there a black box?
Maybe you can help. You seem to know a bit about the Congo Air crash carrying the Sundance executives. Do you know if there has been an outcome as to the cause of the crash? Has this been released? Do you have any other details? Also conflicting reports - was there a black box?
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Perth - Western Australia
Age: 75
Posts: 1,805
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wengen - I have no further information on the crash or the situation regarding any crash investigation. I don't think anything has changed in the conditions within the Congo, that would give one any confidence, that a professionally-instituted air crash investigation has been instigated, or would be carried out.
A lack of qualified people, a barely-functioning Govt, poor communications, and any one of a dozen other 3rd-world country conditions, would all combine to result in this sad event being rapidly forgotten, and consigned to the brief description in databases, as - "crash reasons unknown - inadequate information and investigation".
Regards - O.
A lack of qualified people, a barely-functioning Govt, poor communications, and any one of a dozen other 3rd-world country conditions, would all combine to result in this sad event being rapidly forgotten, and consigned to the brief description in databases, as - "crash reasons unknown - inadequate information and investigation".
Regards - O.
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SAYE
Posts: 281
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
wisner-law.com sues Garmin for CASA accident
I flew briefly for Aero Service in 2007, including the accident aircraft. Sadly, I am not surprised; the company was of the utmost unprofessionalism, very cheap and without management. Poor aircraft maintenance if any, and no pilot training. The accident aircraft already had serious issues but the company always found pilots willing to fly without [maintenance] corrective actions in order to log a few more hours.
I find it preposterous that an attorney is now suing GARMIN in Federal Court in Chicago, claiming an hand-held GPSMAP 496, apparently in the cockpit and probably owned by one of pilots, was "defective and unreasonably dangerous" and caused or contributed to the accident.
I find it preposterous that an attorney is now suing GARMIN in Federal Court in Chicago, claiming an hand-held GPSMAP 496, apparently in the cockpit and probably owned by one of pilots, was "defective and unreasonably dangerous" and caused or contributed to the accident.
Garmin Sued In Congo Aviation Accident
Litigants Claim GPS Was Responsible For The Crash
Twenty-five people have brought a lawsuit against Garmin stemming from an accident in the Republic of Congo in 2010. The plaintiffs claim that the Garmin GPSMAP 496 installed in the aircraft was defective.
The flight took place aboard a Casa 212 airplane. The accident airplane impacted terrain on a charter flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon to Yangadou, Republic of Congo. Eleven people, including six Australian mining executives, were fatally injured when the plane went down. The plaintiffs are residents of China, Australia, and the UK.
The Courthouse News Service reports that, according to documents filed in Federal Court in Chicago, the plaintiffs claim that the GPSMAP 496 was "defective and unreasonably dangerous" when it left the factory, that it did not accurately indicate the airplane's position, and that the terrain-avoidance function did not "provide timely alerts of approaching and hazardous terrain." The suit also claims that the GPS did not contain warnings of "these and other defects."
The plaintiffs say that because of the defective GPS, the pilot flew the airplane into the side of a mountain.
No damages are specified in the complaint.
Litigants Claim GPS Was Responsible For The Crash
Twenty-five people have brought a lawsuit against Garmin stemming from an accident in the Republic of Congo in 2010. The plaintiffs claim that the Garmin GPSMAP 496 installed in the aircraft was defective.
The flight took place aboard a Casa 212 airplane. The accident airplane impacted terrain on a charter flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon to Yangadou, Republic of Congo. Eleven people, including six Australian mining executives, were fatally injured when the plane went down. The plaintiffs are residents of China, Australia, and the UK.
The Courthouse News Service reports that, according to documents filed in Federal Court in Chicago, the plaintiffs claim that the GPSMAP 496 was "defective and unreasonably dangerous" when it left the factory, that it did not accurately indicate the airplane's position, and that the terrain-avoidance function did not "provide timely alerts of approaching and hazardous terrain." The suit also claims that the GPS did not contain warnings of "these and other defects."
The plaintiffs say that because of the defective GPS, the pilot flew the airplane into the side of a mountain.
No damages are specified in the complaint.
Last edited by avionimc; 23rd Jun 2012 at 16:26.
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Perth - Western Australia
Age: 75
Posts: 1,805
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No, I wouldn't describe the plaintiffs in that manner at all. The plaintiffs are relatives of (mostly) Australian mining executive victims of the crash, who are, and always have been, intent on major financial return as their life aim.
Accordingly, I'd hazard a guess they are intent on ensuring their thwarted aims of leading the life of the rich and indolent, via mining returns, are going to be paid for by any target they can nail, via law courts, that has serious amounts of money.
American courts award mind-boggling sums of compensation on the merest sniff of derelict responsibility, and it appears that this is the aim of the defendants.
Good luck to them, this appears to me, to be just some way of taking out their anger on anyone within hitting distance. They can't accept the fact their relatives hitched a ride with a 3rd world aircraft operator and paid the price accordingly.
It appears the crash report indicates pilot error as the sole cause of the crash - and it appears that the pilots were relying on the Garmin GPS device as their aircraft navigational instrument.
Just had a quick glance at the Garmin manual, and the description states "aviation, marine and automotive navigator - prefect for air, land, or water".
I guess the lawyers will claim that the device wasn't totally perfect, as the pax expected - and the victims relatives are now bereft and need to be compensated by the squillions, accordingly.
One would trust that the judge or jury can make the reasonable conclusion that the pilots were the ones in charge of the aircraft - not the Garmin device - and that "pilot error" in placing total faith in one instrument, without additional verification, was the reason for the crash - not because of some shortcoming in the main instrument they were placing their entire trust in.
Accordingly, I'd hazard a guess they are intent on ensuring their thwarted aims of leading the life of the rich and indolent, via mining returns, are going to be paid for by any target they can nail, via law courts, that has serious amounts of money.
American courts award mind-boggling sums of compensation on the merest sniff of derelict responsibility, and it appears that this is the aim of the defendants.
Good luck to them, this appears to me, to be just some way of taking out their anger on anyone within hitting distance. They can't accept the fact their relatives hitched a ride with a 3rd world aircraft operator and paid the price accordingly.
It appears the crash report indicates pilot error as the sole cause of the crash - and it appears that the pilots were relying on the Garmin GPS device as their aircraft navigational instrument.
Just had a quick glance at the Garmin manual, and the description states "aviation, marine and automotive navigator - prefect for air, land, or water".
I guess the lawyers will claim that the device wasn't totally perfect, as the pax expected - and the victims relatives are now bereft and need to be compensated by the squillions, accordingly.
One would trust that the judge or jury can make the reasonable conclusion that the pilots were the ones in charge of the aircraft - not the Garmin device - and that "pilot error" in placing total faith in one instrument, without additional verification, was the reason for the crash - not because of some shortcoming in the main instrument they were placing their entire trust in.
Last edited by onetrack; 24th Jun 2012 at 02:18. Reason: corrections ..
