Rossair : Turbine DC3 ZS-OJI
 

Rumour has it that ZS-OJI pranged earlier this week, somewhere in Sudan. One main gear dug into soft ground on landing, swinging aircraft round, wing impacted, one engine detached.

Anyone got more recent news?

Africa wins again.

Not quite true, the incident happened on take-off at a runway in Sudan that is clearly not designed to accommodate DC3 Turbines. Left wheel sunk. Recovery crew is at present in Sudan replacing one engine and two props, expect to fly her out later today. (Saturday). A combination of factors led to the incident, all due respect to the crew certainly not their fault.

If it wasnt suitable for tdc3 and the crew opereated in for whatever reason then they have some culpability.

all OLS strips have a type limit, wet/dry landable/unlandable.

or maybe it was the runway SLOPE,or the SLOPE in the airplane:}

was it again the usual Whisky Lima "wet and landable" airstrip report or the usual OLS Air-Ops "yeah you can do it with the turbo dak or we cancel the contract and ask one of the Ruskov Anotonov to take it over"...

Sounds like Rossair etc.......

TDC3
 

Wet and Landable

In southern Sudan - no such thing,

- only in the minds of OLS dispatch and food moniters that are due leave.

PITA

Anybody know who the pilots were? I hope they all okay!!
Please PM me any info.
Anyhow hats off to the boys and girls up there doing a difficult job in an even more difficult aircraft!

Probably.

One has to remember this "It is better to loose a contract with a serviceable A/C, than to loose a contract, because of a bent A/C".

The more experience a pilot has, the more he/she will realise the truth in this.

In Africa one should always carry a box of matches just for those eventualities, presuming the A/C is insured, of course.

rossair turbine dc3 ZS-OJI
 

"Wet but landable"

Have'nt heard that phrase for a while. Hope the crew is ok. Having been there many times, "there but for the grace.....". I assume the crew were fully qualified and only trying to get the job done and get home safely to a few Tuskers. ( and maybe a nurse or two) Only kidding!!

Not only Rossair, but all contract companies operating in South Sudan have to rely on their crews to make on the spot assesments as to runway suitability and with the questionable info from OLS, this is not always easy. Fly safely out there.

Any members of the Loki Snot Surfing Club out there? Those are the one's who've landed on wet black cotton and done a 360 deg or in some cases even had to take power to stop because of travelling backward in the slime. Most Twotter and Dak drivers who've done a Loki tour in the wet should qualify.:E

It seems that OLS did in fact relay incorrect information to the crew of OJI. So in my humble opinion the crew are not culpable but rather OLS who once again "gets the info right every time!" NOT. OJI is now back in Nairobi - flew out the Sudan Saturday.

bushjeppy and gbender both hit the nail on the head. But its only the depth of the sh1t that varies. Certain loco carriers have the same policy.different operation same mindset.

500 metres in a bush palne or 1500 in a boeing whats the difference exept the girls are prettier.

Anyone out there know how long MADING is . I couldnt get into AKUEM as it was too wet so i didnt get to (M)AJAKLIET either

I usually like it wet in AKUEM but once you're in its hard to get out.

I did like the mornings when MADING was long and serviceable.

Personnlly I think the whole system is AKON.

Forgotten the rest , and do miss winding up the slopes (safair) who missed the nuance of double entendre airstrips.

got to go my NEKAP is hurting

Hmm. No doubt another bent AC tale to be discussed at length around the bar at Tango Mike on a warm evening with cold Tusker. Hear that they have a new pool.

Dicksynormous (Fester? Bundles?) you are almost quoting the dulcet tones of Mr. Meredith.

Does anyone know exactly which strip the incident occured at?

It occured at Pakam

Whateva !!! where did you come up with that mate ???

Grizzly Bear, where did you hear such junk! The Captain is leaving Rossair of his own accord, nothing personal dude! Most pilots use contract companies as stepping stones in their flying careers to go onto other things. That's it, no hidden agenda from either the Captain or the company - end of story.

Thankyou Spice !

Grizly Bare-When posting info on this forum,please research the facts as most of us do not appreciate DUFF GEN!!

The mere fact that an accident is called that is because it is just that- an accident. I'm sure you don't get into your aerie and say today I'm going to prang it!!!

Please remember in future, that the wheel turns in this small world of aviation, and you might be the next subject being "asked" to leave.

Just a thought -use it,dont use it.

Anti-Skid

Hmmmm....only wanting facts is certainly a novel idea, but then we'd need to change the name to PPFaNe!!

Remember:

As these are anonymous forums the origins of the contributions may be opposite to what may be apparent. In fact the press may use it, or the unscrupulous, to elicit certain reactions.

Hey Grizzly,

I'm sure you didn't expect so many replies to your, shall I say, silly rumour spreading.
But then again, you've probably never flown a taildragger.
Twitchy buggers at the best of times and then lets add wet, short runways.
You do this for a living and don't bend anything, and then return to spread your wisdom on PPrune.


(where's that wheel when you need it?)

piesang

You left out crosswinds and the wing loading of a butterfly.

Yeah,the P2 of the dak that didnt quite make a perfect landing, will shortly (has already) joined another DC3TP operator,where, I can safely say,the guys get paid (more) and on time ,and the machine is well maintained.
To all you "Tossair" prune'rs out there ,there is more to life than batting for that team!!
Balloobear sits on his rock and waits for incomming.......:ouch:

So Baloo,
who are you batting for, or maybe you are putting (from the rough it sounds like)
In case anyone is not sure about the batting order, it's ROSSAIR, no tossing about and they are like you imply, not the best.
If you intend to do contract work, and get stuffed around, (part of the deal offcourse), then do it with the guys who do it right. (dare I say cockpit flows and SOP's, and the odd airline that recognizes the fact)

I'll take my chances and you do the same and maybe we will share a cockpit one day.
(shotgun on the left seat)

:ok:

Hit a Cow and fly the next day without a major inspection!!! Both crew members had a Cavalier attitude towards safety and in the real world would have had their tickets pulled. FYI Grizzly has more time on DAKs than any one else on this thread!!!!! :ok:

Hey to all you that want to slag Rossair ! They are the best contracting company to work for! Great folk best bunch off people I have come to know ! I am glad I dont have to work with okes like Balloo anyway there is no space for people like that at Rossair so we are haappy not to have you with us !!

Viva Rossair !!!!

Tt

The crews are what keep Rossair going. If you want to advance there is a certain amount of rectal kissing involved and the guys know it. Those who do, get ahead and those who don't move on. The slaggers are mainly those who chose not to kiss :mad: and moved on or those who have stood outside and looked in and not liked what they've seen. Those still in who disagree with policy tend to keep stumm until they can move on.....

It's a fact of contract flying.

Contract flying is still in its infancy compared to charter flying & contract companies are still on the learning curve, that applies to all contract companies, yes some are better than others BUT the bottom line is, it is the people and their attitudes that contribute to a "good" or a "bad" contract company. No person is perfect, no pilot, no company and no management, there is always a bad apple in the bunch, but that does not mean that you can generalise about anybody or any company because of one bad apple! Who cares how many hours Grizzly has on Daks .... Dak flying is not an exact science and I am sure Grizzly himself has done a ground loop or two! It is all part of the learning experience. How do expect to get good experienced Dak drivers without them getting EXPERIENCE from flying, making mistakes and here's a novel thought actually learning from them?

So to all of you out there quick to criticise pilots (Was that for us?) and run down companies (Balloo thebear & Piesang) - shut it, everyone has faults yourselves included! The Rossair Dak crews are doing an awesome job in treacherous conditions and for the 2 incidents that they have had in 2 years how many hundreds or thousands of safe landings have they had?

Put that in your pipe I say!

Just wondering is the safety taking a bit of a spiral here:

2 x DC-3 incidents in Sudan in the past 12 months, yes tricky bastard to fly in tricky conditions.

1 X Twotter on its belly also in Sudan about 3-4 weeks ago. Any body have more info on this.

KA200 lost engine in Afghanistan, guys flew 1.5 hours on one engine only to land in near minima conditons. Any info on this.

All operated by Rossair. Sure the AID guys are not sleeping too well.

Understand they have now outsourced the maintenance seems like a bad idea !

Is this true and who is doing it ?

To those that havent been there...
 

Well,

Good to see those that have been there, dealt with OLS, 'wet and landable', and aid workers wanting to get out, had a tusker at Tango Mike ( and yes, the expanded pool is nice....), good to see the support and appreciation for the difficulty involved.

For those that havent been there, I won't tell you to shut up and go away - but I would like to say that conditions at those so-called 'airstrips' are beyond anything you will have encountered in sunny SA, or indeed at any tar or dirt strip you have likely encountered. They cannot be judged by a flyover, and they are, in my opinion, the most challenging airstrips you will encounter in your career. Landing a 737 etc on a nice tar runway just doesnt hack it - I did a 120 degree spin around the other day, used forward thrust to stop! Thats how slippery they can be. And the muddy ones - been stuck once or twice. Frankly its unavoidable. If you think that youre too skilled to have things like that happen to you, then obviously I just can't tell you anything, but for the realistic ones out there - don't make judgements too quickly, wait till you've been exposed to those conditions first.

A.R.M. 505



Welcome to the Loki Snot Surfing Club!:ok:

Snot Surfing club, hmmm. Apt description, however disgusting it sounds!

As to apportioning blame - I just wouldn't. Not because I wasn't there, or because I don't know all the details (haven't caught up with the crew involved yet) - but because it's just not going to achieve anything. If I was the accident investigator or an insurance claims reviewer, then maybe there would be some point to me speculating - right now there isn't, so I don't bother. I just try and file it away, in case I encounter something similiar.

To make judgements on the state of an entire company based on these events, when not even knowing the complete background seems premature, and pointless. Quite frankly, the pilots I have dealt with from Rossair, are mostly top class - I have no reason to doubt their abilities now, especially knowing the conditions that all pilots landing in Sudan face.