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-   -   Moremi Air van down (https://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/466329-moremi-air-van-down.html)

Capt Livingstone 28th May 2012 08:25

The Ngami Times 25 May 2012
 
Thank you again Ngami Times. A nice reminder as the season gets under way. Perhaps a statement from our friend SS of Moremi Air. After all it's only over 7 months since the last and only one. I did see her in town a few weeks ago so she has come from under her desk at least!



Recently this newspaper highlighted the concerns of pilots around the world into the non-appearance of an accident report on what happened to the Moremi Air plane in the delta last year.

Readers will recall that nine people, including the very experienced pilot, died when the plane plunged into the ground and burned out.

Despite numerous requests to the Department of Transport there is still nothing available and this has resulted in rumours circulating that there was something wrong with the engine and that therefore the pilot had no chance of saving his or his passengers' lives.

So what was the real cause?

Shuffle waits with bated breath for someone to come up with the answers as Maun cannot put this matter to rest until we know the answers.

dr27 28th May 2012 17:36

just another pathetic governmental response
 
report is out but for reasons unknown the lads at BAAC don't want to release same:ugh::ugh::ugh:

Foxcotte 31st May 2012 10:04

Exonerated
 
There was no doubt in the mind's of anyone who knew Martin that the ONLY reason he put the plane down where he did was that there was NO other option left open to him. He had been left with an unflyable aircraft and very little time or height in which to do anything about it.

So its all kind of academic whether the powers that be in Botswana want to release the report or not - the information is out that the engine manufacturers have concluded the engine failure was due to major blade failure.

Its not going to bring Martin or his passengers back, and it'll probably be lost in the mists of time, but the next question is "Why did the engine fail"? How many times had that engine been over-temped, over-torqued by pilots who didn't declare it. Did it have ADAS or manual trend monitoring. Was there a trend that was ignored? What did the last blade inspection reveal - when a blade is removed, cut and inspected? Any FOD that wasn't declared/ignored??

Its a kind of sobering thought that as a pilot - just because you were tired/stressed that day, that the airstrip was shorter, pax were heavier, take-off was worse than expected, you weren't paying attention to the gauges - BUT it was okay, I got away with it, no-one need know, no-one will know, nothing bad happened - that we may have signed the death warrant on some poor innocent sod in the future.

What about trusting the people we work with - the 'stud' pilots who also fly the same aircraft but are so busy building hours to move to the big jets, who don't really care about the engines out in front of them because hey, they're not going to be around flying small plane for very long anyway, and fresh out of flight school they're invincible anyway. Or the old boy who is beginning to 'lose it' but won't admit that he's slow on power control, who's getting tired but isn't going to be told anything by these kids with so few hours.

Everyone of us who flies has a responsibility to those come after us. Look after the engine in the way that you want everyone else to, make sure that you haven't done something stupid/wrong that is going to cost someone's life in the future. We're human, not gods - so own up when something happens. And trust that the people you work with will do the same. If you're not sure about that - remember Martin, and move on before IT happens to you.

The Ancient Geek 31st May 2012 15:40

Well said, it takes a lot of abuse to break a PT6.
The P&W report would make interesting reading, they are very thorough and would have pointed out any pre-existing damage etc.

cavortingcheetah 31st May 2012 16:35

Sound and profound thoughts indeed and an excellent identification of one of the major problems confronting both aviation safety and modern aviation recruitment practice. I refer of course to the stud pilots and those kids with so few hours both of whom fly turbines on their way to the starry heights of what passes these days, amongst those who know no better, for pure jet propulsion.
Old boys are gentle with power systems if only because their hands are gnarled and weakened from years of raising laden glasses and engaging reverse thrust whenever encountering challenging landing considerations in or out of the boudoir.
Young whopper snippers should all be banned by international regulations from going near anything other than a normally aspirated engine until they have at least a certain minimum of flight experience, say two thousand hours as a conservative estimate? Aircraft engine manufacturers should insist upon this anti-abuse proviso as part of any propulsion supply contract to aircraft manufacturers.
Altogether an excellent and heart rending evocation but one which, one fears, will fall wide of the wax filled ears of the youthful aviator of today.
That would though keep the wyenas and the hild dogs of the skies at bay!

lilflyboy262...2 1st Jun 2012 02:59

Well the limit for the van there is 1000hrs.
If you haven't learnt how to handle an engine by then, then I doubt you ever will.

I know our company did manual trend monitoring. And I believe wilderness had an automatic system, stand to be corrected there though.
I also believe that AKD had ADAS as well.

It could also just be bad luck. A bad blade that had a fault that just let go eventually. Something like that would have been an uncontained failure. Can understand now why it burnt so rapidly.

Capt Livingstone 16th Jun 2012 09:25

Ngami Times 15th June
 

Air accident reports to be made public

By Lesley Van Neel

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefhi, has promised that accident reports into air crashes in the Okavango delta and at Kweneng West will be made public.

He said this at the 3 rd Aviation Pitso which started in Maun yesterday (Thursday) and which continues today.

His remarks follow on claims that the results of the accidents will be confidential, drawing concerns from pilots and others in the industry. Nine people died in the Moremi air disaster last year.

He said investigators are working on the final reports that will identify the cause of the two civilian accidents and the findings shall be made public.
He does not say when!

Golf Romeo Mike 11th Jul 2012 17:08

A reality style series was filmed around the same time as the AKD accident.

Below is a link to the "teaser". Note that the pilot declaring "complete" Engine failure is in fact a Moremi Air Pilot, presumably in a Moremi Air plane. It seems that they clearly haven't changed, but then, I don't think anyone who knows the company and more specifically the management would have expected anything else.

What is annoying about this series is that there is a lot of emphasis placed on the dangers of flying in the delta, however, the film crew were told to make no mention whatsoever about the crash, even though it happened around the same time of their filming. Apparently the charter companies were happy to promote the dangers of flying in the delta, but not the consequences.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150895879137050

lilflyboy262...2 11th Jul 2012 21:42

The teaser blows it out of proportion. It was a training flight doing the check out in the C210...

Golf Romeo Mike 12th Jul 2012 06:27

That makes it even worse.. to present a promo video, with the pilot declaring total engine failure, and someone in the background asking "are we going to make it" when not long before, that same charter company lost 9 people to an engine failure.

The Ancient Geek 4th Aug 2012 07:29

Still waiting for the report.
Any news ?

Rico 25 4th Aug 2012 14:11

Dude,
ever heard of the phrase "Africa owns time!":rolleyes:

cavortingcheetah 4th Aug 2012 15:26

What! All unaided?

Phone Wind 4th Aug 2012 19:57

I always thought it was the old saying "God gave the White man watches, and Africa…TIME" :}

The Ancient Geek 19th Aug 2012 23:50

tick tock tick tock........

Could someone please kick some bottom in Gabs ?

joe north 24th Aug 2012 04:40

Kicking buts in gabz :ugh:

Redsteel 27th Aug 2012 14:51

I believe Pratt & Whitney confirmed it was the engine awhile ago, apparently the official report was released and said engine failure was the cause. Havent read it myself, but im sure some research could give you the answers

lilflyboy262...2 27th Aug 2012 21:36

It was pretty obvious that it was engine failure.... What we want to know is WHY the engine failed.

The Ancient Geek 28th Aug 2012 00:16

Indeed, P&W have told the CAA but the CAA are not releasing the facts.
Who is covering up what and why ?

Foxcotte 28th Aug 2012 11:30

Curiouser and curiouser...
 
The report has been released to the people directly involved it seems, and the main cause of the accident is engine failure due to a thrown blade just after lift-off leaving an unflyable plane. No surprises there so far.

However, can someone please help explain how the fact that Martin had recently resigned and what the soil was at Xakanaka airstrip had to do with the PT6 throwing a blade?? They are not listed as direct causes but are contributing factors?? :( If Martin was in charge of maintenance or had direct responsibility for the engine it might be applicable but he didn't.

To quote a local phrase "now, me myself am confused"....

Exascot 20th Sep 2012 14:40

We are still awaiting an answer to this whole issue. Does anyone know if any legal action has been taken by the families of the deceased passengers? If so the insurance companies must be screaming for information.

lilflyboy262...2 21st Sep 2012 03:02

If you make enough noise, usually something will come out in an effort to save face.

Exascot 28th Oct 2012 08:35

Ngami Times 19th October
 

What caused the Moremi Air plane crash a year ago?

By Bright Kholi

Sunday October 14, marked exactly a year since a Moremi Air plane crashed in the Moremi Game Reserve just after take off from Xakanaxa airstrip, killing 8 passengers including the pilot. While it's been a year since the incident, the aviation sector, the tourism sector, families of the deceased and the general public are yet to know what really caused the accident as the report on the incident is still being finalised.

On October 14, 2011, the Cessna 208 registered A2 AKD took off from Maun airport to do its regular trips in and out of the Delta camps transporting tourists. At the controls of A2 AKD was Martin Gresswell, then Moremi Air's most experienced pilot and general manager for flight operations with a staggering 12 000 flying hours. At about 1.55pm it crashed just after take off from Xakanaxa airstrip, which is about 25 flying minutes from Maun, destined for Pom Pom. Aboard the aircraft were 12 passengers, of whom four survived while 7 tourists and Gresswell died.

From there on the investigations on to the cause were initiated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and to date, it is yet to release the report. Many questions have been asked as to what could have gone wrong with the aircraft, more so that the pilot was one of the finest in the industry.

In response to questions from The Ngami Times this week, Aron Kitunga, the investigator in charge at the ministry, said “investigations are a process”, adding that they are currently at the report writing stage of the investigations.

“The draft final report has been completed and circulated to affected parties. Only one has not submitted representations, but we have started working on other representations which were submitted,” he said.

Of the affected parties - two are known to be Moremi Air Services in Maun and engine makers Pratt and Whitney, Canada - two have submitted their representations which are now being taken into consideration before submitting the final report. Questioned on the preliminary findings, Kitunga said the investigations revealed that the aircraft engine had failed during take-off. He could not go into detail as to what could have led to the engine to fail. A2 AKD was fitted with a powerful Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turbo prop engine. There have been allegations that the engine could have been altered in a way which made it susceptible to failure but Kitunga said “we are not aware of such rumours, and in any case, the investigations are normally based on factual information.” On whether the final report will be made public, Kitunga said regulations require that the final report be submitted to the Minister of Transport and Communications who will then determine if the report or part of it is to be published.

Asked why it took so long for the investigations to be concluded, Kitunga said, “accident investigations are always complex and are required to determine not only the root cause of the accident, but also other systemic shortcomings that could be potential cause of accidents. Therefore, a thorough investigation is carried out before determination of the conclusions and any lessons that might be learnt from the accident. Normally this takes not less than one year and could go as far as two or three years for a large commercial aircraft.”

Moremi Air Services in Maun did not respond to a set of questions sent to them by The Ngami Times this week.
Note last line! Are we surprised?

lilflyboy262...2 28th Oct 2012 13:49

Although there was never any doubt by the people in Maun, and those who knew him, at least this article looks like the blame is pointed away from Martin with stupid rumours of being overloaded etc etc.

The Ancient Geek 29th Oct 2012 01:17

Indeed, it is a very rare occurance with the PT6 but if your only engine granades just after takeoff your only chance is a suitable cabbage patch. If all you have is trees it is not going to end well.

Sometimes fate deals you a bum hand and there is nothing that the best pilot in the world can do about it.

The interesting part, when the full report is released, will be P&W's analysis of why the engine failed so disastrously.

Temp Spike 5th Nov 2012 20:18

Gee....
 
Did the hot section shell or the gearbox explode? Over-TQ comes to mind. Poor maintenance a likely reason too. Operators on the pinch like to run PT6 engines way past the maint. sched. Sure it wasn't just an FCU shaft fail?

Design fail in this engine, in all likelyhood, is out of the question. All but impossible, but still possible. Could be FOD through the compressor. Nine chances out of ten it's poor maintenance or pilot engine control error or abuse.

I am interested in knowing when info becomes available.

lilflyboy262...2 5th Nov 2012 22:45

Temp spike. Have you flown in Botswana or are you assuming that it is poor maintenance because it is Africa?

Because engine failures on PT6's never happen in the states right?

I had my first PT6 failure in Canada. Not in Africa.

An FCU failure is pretty easy to recognise in a van. The emergency power lever is there for such an occasion.
Is a turbine disk letting go so far fetched?

dr27 6th Nov 2012 14:59

Re PT6 failures these appear to more common than you might think...

Golf Romeo Mike 6th Nov 2012 17:07

Moremi Air van down
 
While the content and nature of the report has not yet been released, it has been confirmed that it was engine failure due to the compressor blades that sheared off due to corrosion. So no, Temp spike in this instance it was not pilot engine control or abuse but the standard of the maintenance needs to be considered as corrosion of that nature doesnt happen overnight.

Capt Livingstone 7th Nov 2012 07:52


....it has been confirmed that it was engine failure due to the compressor blades that sheared off due to corrosion.
GRM, please can you confirm that this is correct and not a rumour. Have you seen it in writing?

Golf Romeo Mike 7th Nov 2012 10:33

Moremi Air van down
 
While i can't tell you how i know, I can confirm that this is not another rumour. I know for a fact that P&W have verified that it was engine failure which was as a result of corrosion on the compressor blades.

The Ancient Geek 3rd Mar 2013 10:25

Another 4 months have passed, where is the report ?

Exascot 6th Mar 2013 08:39

Published ages ago and well and truly buried in the bush.

Golf Romeo Mike 12th Jun 2013 14:59

So, finally some aspects of the report have come to light:

Sunday Standard - Online Edition

Some interesting points to note are that, while everything from the trees, to the training and even lack of documentation is blamed, no mention is ever made to the primary issue, which is that the Engine essentially blew up and caught fire on take off, which would be a maintenance issue. It should also be noted, that while not mentioned in this article, P&W had issued all AOM's an Airworthiness Directive advising of a potential issue of corrosion build up in the PT6 engine 1 year before the crash. As per P&W's analysis AKD's engine, the engine failed due to a turbine blade shearing off as a result of severe sulphurdation build up which caused massive corrosion.

It is quite amusing that the GM of MA states that she has not received or read the pre-liminary or the final report which was issued to all involved parties months ago. Is she lying or does our favourite CEO not think it pertinent for the GM of the Air Charter company to know why one of their air craft crashed, killing 9 people (including their former GM)

Exascot 14th Jun 2013 08:09

From the Nagami Times last week:


Botswana in aviation safety shake up

A shake up of Botswana's aviation – both the national carrier and other aircraft registered in the country - is on the go following the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) validation of the country for effective implementation of ICAO's standards and recommended practices.

This follows a validation mission conducted in Botswana in April.

The purpose was to check on the progress made by Botswana following a safety audit carried out in May 2006 which showed, then, that Botswana was only at 27.8% of effective implementation of standards and recommended practices.

The new mission was a full-scale one covering all the eight audit areas of legislation, organisation, personnel licensing, flight operations (OPS), airworthiness, accident and incident investigation, air navigation services and aerodromes and ground aids.

Botswana was this time rated at 59.6% of effective implementation as compared to 27.8% in 2006, says the Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB).

The positive rating is better than the average for Africa which is 41% and is almost equal to the global average of 60%.

The mission team acknowledged “the commendable progress made by Botswana since the 2006 audit, noting that significant improvements have been made in almost all the safety-related areas.” There were however two potential significant safety concerns, one relating to the certification process for the issuance of air operator certificates and the other relating to the approval of aircraft modifications and repairs.

ICAO wrote to the CAAB and requested Botswana, through the CAAB, to submit a correction action plan detailing how the safety concerns would be resolved. It is anticipated that this wilkl have been completed by October.

The CAAB has since submitted a detailed corrective action plan with an estimated completion date of October 2013.

This entails the re-certifying all air operators in accordance with the Civil Aviation (Air Operator Certification and Administration) Regulations, 2013 which were published on March 8.

In addition, the CAAB will conduct a comprehensive structured review of all major modifications and major repairs embodied on Botswana registered aircraft to ensure compliance with associated civil aviation regulations of Botswana and ICAO provisions.

In both recertification and review and approval of modifications and repairs, the CAAB is in close consultations with and provides guidance to all affected air operators and is pleased with their

Co-operation. These consultations and co-operation are critical.

“In its correspondence with Botswana, ICAO acknowledged Botswana's commitment

in helping ICAO achieve its safety objectives and called on the CAAB to continue giving

progress updates on the corrective actions for ICAO's continued monitoring of the

status,” the CAAB said.

“The CAAB, as an aviation regulator in Botswana, is currently working around the clock to

correct the two significant safety concerns on Botswana. It is worth noting that

Botswana's rating at 59.6% of Effective Implementation in 2013 as compared to 27.8% in 2006 represents a significant improvement. “ In terms of the process agreed between Botswana and ICAO, the draft report will be ready within 90 days from April 9 after which Botswana will have 45 days to respond or comment.
A very important flight safety aspect is to publish and circulate accident reports so that lessons can be learnt and necessary changes made. We all know that this accident report was leaked ages ago. It lists the CEO on the very small distribution list. Perhaps it got lost in the Botswana post to her :suspect: It makes interesting reading. As you say GRM we must not lose sight of the fact that it was an engine failure nothing more nothing less. The trees were not a factor. The trees were a performance issue but Martin would almost certainly have cleared them if the engine had not blown up. End of story - well not really, but you know what I mean.

The Sunday Standard is not correct considerable improvements have been made. The reporter failed to note:


The positive rating is better than the average for Africa which is 41% and is almost equal to the global average of 60%.
This doesn't mean that we should be complacent however.

cavortingcheetah 14th Jun 2013 10:44

That's a relatively meaningless piece of self congratulation on the part of the CAAB.

Effective implementation by Region currently stands as follows:

Africa 41%, Asia 68%, Europe 72%, Latin America & the Caribbean 64%, North America 93%, Oceania 47%

Worldwide Average 60%

Source: ICAO

http://www.caab.co.bw/caab-news-deta...=517&type=news


Oceania and Africa pull the world standard down from the 74% success rate achieved by excluding them to the lamentable 60% including them. A mark of 60% wouldn't even achieve a pass in either a South African or British ATPL examination.
What's truly astonishing is the gap between the 92% achieved by the US and the comparatively pitiful 72% European success rate. If you were to take the US out of the equation, the overall average decreases to 58.4%. The US rate of achievement is thus perhaps reflective of the capable, accountable and efficient authority to be found in the FAA.

172driver 14th Jun 2013 12:55


What's truly astonishing is the gap between the 92% achieved by the US and the comparatively pitiful 72% European success rate. If you were to take the US out of the equation, the overall average decreases to 58.4%. The US rate of achievement is thus perhaps reflective of the capable, accountable and efficient authority to be found in the FAA.
True. However, it also depends how 'Europe' is defined. If this includes Russia, well, I guess that explains it.

The 41% for Africa are still scary, though....

Capt Livingstone 14th Jun 2013 13:55

CEO of Moremi Air
 
Sorry guys, you know that I only stick my head over the parapet on this particular issue as I am in a very sensitive position down here.

Golf Romeo Mike and Exascot. I am sure that you know that SS saw the main report as soon as it was published.

The report slates SS and her non-existent managerial skills. It doesn't mention her zero previous knowledge of aviation before her amazing promotion into this post (still a mystery). It also criticizes the CAAB. This is why it has been suppressed.

Also it is all very well giving the whole country a ICAO rating but regarding the air charter companies the tour operators should be informed about individual safety records. We all know who are the best and the one that is the worst. No names mentioed :E

Capt Livingstone 19th Jun 2013 12:54

The only way forward is for the CEO to resign.
 

MOREMI AIR PARTLY BLAMED FOR CRASH

The report of the aircraft accident investigation of the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan plane that crashed shortly after take-off from Xakanaxa airstrip in the Okavango Delta on October 14, 2011 - killing 8 of its 11 passengers, including the pilot - has almost if not entirely put the blame for the accident at the door of the operator, Moremi Air Services.

The report, by the Directorate of Accident Investigation in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, concluded that the crash was caused by engine failure resulting from failure of the engine's compressor turbine blades.

It had harsh words to say about Moremi Air's training culture as well as how its pilots had resigned owing to authoritarian management.

Those who died in the accident were the British-born pilot Martin Gresswell, 51, and seven of his passengers from Switzerland (3), France (3) and Britain.

The survivors were two French and two Botswana government officials. One of the French survivors died in the Milpark Hospital, in Johannesburg, while a Botswna government official died of natural causes late last year..

Gresswell's mother, Barbara Hoad, of Hull, England, told the BBC that as the investigation found the engine failed due to corrosion on the compressor blades, it cleared her son of any responsibility close to the first anniversary of his death. She was quoted by Hull media some months after the crash as saying: “It was 100 per cent engine failure and definitely not Martin's fault. In our hearts, we knew it wasn't pilot's error because we had flown with him and he was a good pilot.”

The accident report found that contributing factors to the accident were “an inadequate safety culture and lack of an established safety management system within Moremi Air Services, subjugating and authoritarian management control at the carrier, a poor training programme at Moremi Air Services and carrying more passengers than authorised out of Xakanaxa airfield.”

The report also blames the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) for poor supervision and oversight to the operator, aircraft maintenance organisation and airfield certification. The engine manufacturer was also at fault for lack of dissemination of critical maintenance information to the operators and aircraft maintenance organisations.

Tall trees that have been bedevilling Xakanaxa airstrip also contributed to the accident. According to the report, the Cessna, registration A2 AKD, departed Maun on the morning of October 14, 2011, for a series of flight sectors in the Okavango Delta that took the aircraft to Kasane. The aircraft was refuelled there and at 11.50am “11 passengers boarded the aircraft which was going to Pom Pom but the pilot changed the schedule and the aircraft diverted to Xakanaxa to drop two passengers.

“There was no flight plan filed for Xakanaxa sector, nor was the company base informed of the

diversion before the aircraft's departure from Kasane airport,” says the report.

It goes on to say at Xakanaxa the pilot was informed that he was required to pick up another two passengers who were going to Maun. After some hesitation, the pilot agreed to take the passengers, departing from Xakanaxa with 11 passengers although the aircraft was restricted to carry 10 passengers out of that airfield.

The Pratt and Whitney aircraft engine lost power during the climb out at Xakanaxa and the aircraft collided with a tree. It crashed nose first approximately 600 metres from the airfield.

According to the report, Xakanaxa airfield is owned by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and has tall trees at either end of the runway. It also says that the owners were not willing to remove the trees even after being advised by the Civil Aviation Authority.

“There had been an effort to relocate the airfield as a lasting solution but the project was abandoned mid-way reportedly due to financial constraints faced by the Department,” the report added.

Investigations to the accident revealed that the compressor turbine of the engine had failed, leading to engine failure.

“ Sulphidation corrosion was found on the inter-platform area of the compressor turbine although this could not be positively established as the root cause of the turbine failure,” the report found.

It goes on to say the possibility of material failure and inappropriate operation of the engine could not entirely be ruled out as the possible cause of the compressor turbine failure.

“It was also established that Moremi Air Services' top management style, safety culture and pilot training structure had eroded to the extent that safety was being compromised.

“At the time of the accident the pilot had tendered his resignation as had many pilots before him after experiencing antagonism with the top management at the company.”

It further reveals that although the CEO position did not feature in the Operations Manual, “witness reports within the organisation stated that all the major decisions pertaining to the running of the company were only carried out upon approval by the CEO.”

According to witness reports, the management style at Moremi Air Services is described as being single-handedly run by the CEO who ensured a full grip on operational control. “Her leadership style was described by many as aggressive and assertive, which effectively demoralised many of the staff,” the report added.

It further states “that others described her leadership style as draconian while others referred to her as a micro-manager.”

Moremi Air Services pilots had been discussing management issues in their own forum but there were no positive changes.

“Moremi Air Services had experienced four accidents within two years prior to the

employment of the occurrence pilot and the management stated that they had employed

the occurrence pilot to assist in resolving safety related issues,” the report said.

Findings and recommendations

Probable Cause of the Accident

3.2.1 Engine failure resulting from the failure of the Compressor Turbine Blades.

Other Contributing Factors

3.3.1 Sulphidation corrosion on the inter-platform area of turbine blades.

3.3.2 Tall trees at the end of Xaxanaka airfield.

3.3.3 Inadequate safety culture and lack of an established Safety Management System within Moremi Air Services.

3.3.4 Subjugating and authoritarian management control at Moremi Air Services.

3.3.5 Poor training programme at Moremi Air Services

3.3.6 Issuance of Dispensation to Xaxanaka airfield.

3.3.7 Carrying more passengers than authorised out of Xaxanaka airfield.

3.3.8 Lack of dissemination of critical maintenance information to the operators and AMOs by the engine manufacturer.

3.3.9 Poor supervision and oversight by CAAB to the aircraft operator, aircraft maintenance organisation and airfield certification.

RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Pratt and Whitney Canada and Cessna to continue supporting the effort of SERT team to identify the major causes of engine shut down on single-engine aircraft.

4.2 That the aircraft manufacturer and the relevant certification authorities should ensure that the ADAS system is protected against fire damage.

4.3 That the CAAB reinforces its work-force at Maun airport to ensure that the oversight responsibility for aircraft operators and maintenance organisations is carried out diligently.

4.4 The CAAB should ensure that the Management system at Moremi Air Services is overhauled so that there is a clearly defined line of command and that the work environment is conducive for safe operation of aircraft.

4.5 The CAAB should establish a system that will ensure that commercial operators prepare load sheets for every flight sector and a provision for amending them in case of changes in the flight schedules that will affect the loading and destination of the aircraft.

4.6 The CAAB should ensure that aircraft operations at Xaxanaka airfield and other Category C airfields is limited to aircraft of the authorised performance group and it should consider to stop issuing dispensations.

4.7 The CAAB should direct the Wildlife and National Parks management to ensure that the trees at Xaxanaka airfield do not pose danger to aircraft or passengers.

4.8 The CAAB should ensure that the safety culture at MAS is improved through building up of a solid Safety Management System.4. The CAAB should put a requirement for operators to install ELTs that will activate when subjected to longitudinal as well as lateral forces.

4.10 The CAAB should ensure that MAS has a well-established training schedule for their pilots and the records are prepared and kept up to date.

4.11 The CAAB should initiate a research on the presence of sodium compounds on calcrete used on airfield surfaces and its effect on turbine engines.

4.12 The DWNP should look into the possibility of completing the relocation of Xaxanaka airfield if they are not in a position to cut the tall trees surrounding the existing airfield.
That is from the Ngami Times last week. It is straight from the accident report. I can confirm that they are direct quotes.

How can an air charter company operate when the CEO overrules her operations director and chief pilot on matters of aviation when she is completely ignorant of these matters. She doesn't know the difference between MTOW and MZFW, IAS and CAS, or even an aileron and a flap.

No one in their right mind would fly with this company if they knew the facts. The only business they get is by their sister company Kwando Safaris insisting that their clients fly with them. And, we all know who the CEO of this company is, yes, the very same SS.

Now the facts are out the only way forward for Moremi Air is for their CEO to resign. Otherwise they go down the tubes.

Let us not forget their record:

Moremi Air Accidents
1. A2-DOG Nov 2008 write off
2. A2-AFE 15 Aug 2010 write off
3. A2-PPL Nov 2010 write off
4. A2-KWA 27 Jan 2011 write off
5. A2-AEI Sep 2011 forced landing on road
6. A2-AKD Oct 2011 write off. 9 fatalities

I do not blame the middle management or their pilots there are some really good guys there but it need professional supervision.

Unfortunately Martin (RIP) didn't get out soon enough.

Sue Smart - Do flight safety in Botswana a favour and resign.

Capt Livingstone 9th Aug 2013 09:25

Open Memo to CEO Moremi Air
 
Dear Madam,

I am pleased to hear that I have your undivided attention through this forum. Letters from your lawyers to the administrators of PPRuNe threatening legal action for defamation due to my posts will not stop me pursuing action against air charter companies who fall short of acceptable flight safety and operational standards.

I am qualified in law and there is no case for defamation where the facts are true. When I have a little more time I will pick out more points from the AKD accident report which criticises your company safety standards, operational procedures and leadership.

For the record, although you know me, I am not a competitor. I am just concerned with flight safety and the future of the tourism industry in Southern Africa.


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