Another a/c down - Caravan South Sudan 23 October

[Contract Dog]

Hear from 2 reliable sources that a 5Y Van went down in South Sudan around the Juba area. The pax said they heard a bang and then saw oil all over the windshield. The crew then put down in a field and evryone got out ok. Nice job from the crew!:ok: Keep it safe out there folks

Dog

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Glad to hear no injuries or fatalities. Well done to the crew. Did precisely what they train for...:ok:

[Mungalui]

23 October 2006.
UNHAS caravan flying from Loki to Bor crash-landed approximately 60 miles North of Juba.There were 3 people on board including the crew.Information recieved so far indicates that no one was injured during the morning incident.UNHAS staff in Juba flew to the scene of the accident and brought those who were on board to Juba.
Well done crew!:ok:
Apparently the aircraft is a wreck. One wing torn off and nose wheel destroyed.
Once again,well done boys! I heard them talking on the HF giving Loki co-ordinates of the crash site. Cool as cucumbers :D
Munga.

[Jetstream_lover]

Great job guys. Nice to everyone out ok, have flown out in the part of the world with UN and know quite a lot of the 5Y Van guys. Anyone know the Reg of the AC?

[Mungalui]

The REG was 5Y-NPD.

[bush van]

I have many hours flying around the Juba area and most of that place is swamp land, Well doen Boys for putting it down and walking away,

Africa is a great place,

Keep safe

[south coast]

PT6 turbine engines dont just stop working for no reason, normally.

Once again a question of maintenance I am afraid, Africa, same old story.

Not a critism of the pilots or the engineers in the field, they can only do their best with what they are given, but just go back through the Africa forum over the last year and read the number of planes with PT6 engine failures.

You dont get that in the USA or Europe.

[MungoP]

PT6 Engines etc...

The problem is almost never the engine... it's the ancilliary bits attached. In almost 8000 hrs of turbo-prop flying I've had only one major problem and that was a simple oil return pipe connection coming adrift and dumping all the oil... fortunately in a twin.
Some Caravans have been around for almost 25 years and are now cheap enough to be falling into the hands of those on a tight budget.... that means maintenance kept to the minimum... and in a few cases... below the minimum..the so far excellent record for the 208 is likely to take a sharp dip over the next few years so for those of you operating for the marginals... as Cromwell said.... "Trust in God, But keep Your Powder Dry "

[Sensible Garage]

from UN site

Southern Sudan

Security:

On 22 October, a UN Agency flight crash landed due to engine problems on its way from Loki to Bunagok. The two crew and one staff member escaped with no injuries.

[ShenziRubani]

so no real info about that second aircraft down in the Darfur area?

[VanDokta]

South Coast, another negative post from you I see.

Fact is that the aircraft was one of eight caravans on that contract, and have accumulated over 36000 flying hours between the fleet over the last two and a half years operating in South Sudan.
The maintenance facility is the only AMO in Kenya to have a South African CAA approval, as well as being approved by the WFP safety division to be on the UN Rfo listing.
The maintenance division has a very high standard of workmanship.

Perhaps as you say, "you don't get that in the USA or Europe", but then again remember that neither do you get to operate into short, extemely rough dirt strips full of potholes and ruts.
In Africa, especially when operating on contract the conditions are nowhere near as smooth and ideal as in the developed world, the stesses placed on the equipment are vastly different.

From what I hear, the WFP safety division was out there the next day, lets see what they come up with.

[captabcd]

A job well done to those guys flying the van which went down north of Juba.:D
A thought still arises, how well would it have been handled if the failure had happened at night during one of the DHL run.:confused: :ugh: :*

[dynamite dean]

Sad to hear NPD has gone to the place in the sky, I flew that bird for hundreds of hours by myslef and my replacement flew it and his replacement in Mbandaka - DRC. Just me and my Van (NPD) it had the fur on the P1 side, took me all over it did, and saw me through the usual thunderstorms ....happy memories...zzzz:( :( :(

[south coast]

VanDokta

What part of my post is negative?

I merely say that PT6's are so very reliable you hardly ever hear of the them just stopping, unless they are not looked after properly.

If you read my post, it says everyone does their best with what they have, ie. crews and engineers, but as with my old company there, if there is somewhat poor management, ineffective mothods of getting spares to the plane, cash flow problems, well, the outcome becomes evident pretty quickly.

[VanDokta]

South Coast
Thought your comment "Once again a question of maintenance I am afraid, Africa, same old story." was a little misplaced.

Clarifying your comment with respect to spares and cash flows etc puts your initial comments into better perspetive.

The contract holders at this time however supply massive support in the way of spares and backup. No part request is ever queried, and they have a large parts stock available in Nairobi.
I hear you with regard to getting parts to aircraft, I have dealt with other companies that operate on crisis management, but these operators are different.
They do an in house audit every two months, and WFP do one every four months, the standards are kept very high.
If an aircraft requires a part, it is grounded until the part arrives, no chances are taken.

[putt for dough]

Van Dokta

Well your company must be one of a very few
operators and maintenance companies that
operate under such well run stringent environments.

Pity about the bloody rest of them!:ugh: