Voel
17th Sep 2008, 06:34
WERNER MENGES
THE deadly plane crash in Windhoek's Hochland Park area 10 days ago was caused by a "human error" - plastic bags were left over the air intake tubes of the aircraft during a maintenance inspection three days before the accident, according to a first report on the investigation of the incident.
Preliminary findings in the investigation released by the Ministry of Works and Transport yesterday have identified a maintenance inspection that was done on the aircraft three days before it was to crash-land in Hochland Park's Papegaien Road as a pivotal event in the run-up to the crash.
During the inspection a foreign object was left on part of the aircraft's engine, it was indicated.
This oversight later had catastrophic results.
Five Swiss visitors to Namibia were on board the Cessna 210 aircraft, V5-BIG, which was operated by a Windhoek-based air charter company, Wings Over Africa, when it took off from Eros Airport shortly before 09h00 on September 7.
'NO SIGNS' The group's intended destination was Huab Lodge in the Kunene Region.
According to the report released yesterday, the pilot noticed no abnormalities during pre-flight checks and during take-off.
After the take-off, everything was still normal and the pilot retracted the plane's undercarriage according to normal procedure while he also reduced the aircraft's engine power to 2 500 revolutions per minute.
"At about 600 feet to 700 feet above ground level, the engine power faded away without any special noise or warning," it is stated in the Ministry's statement, which was signed by Works and Transport Minister Helmut Angula.
The pilot turned the plane to the left to carry out an emergency landing in Papegaien Road, it is related in the statement.
After making contact with the ground, though, the plane's left wing collided with a streetlight pole, and the aircraft swung forcefully to the left.
It struck the boundary walls of four houses before it came to a rest.
A 44-year-old surgeon from Lausanne in Switzerland, Nicolas Peloponissios, was seriously injured in the crash.
He died in a Windhoek hospital a few hours after the accident.
MAINTENANCE According to the Ministry's statement the aircraft had been scheduled for an inspection with an aircraft maintenance organisation at Eros Airport on September 4.
"During the inspection, the air intake tubes (ducts) were removed, air filters were also removed for cleaning and the engine had to be washed with water," it is stated in the report released by the Ministry.
"As per engineers report, plastic bags were used to cover the air intake tubes (ducts) during the engine cleaning process in order to prevent water from entering the air intake tubes (ducts).
The aircraft was ground run before it was delivered back to the owner (Wings over Africa) on the 5th September 2008.
"Investigations revealed that the human error was a contributing factor to the engine loss of power, which resulted in an emergency landing and a subsequent crash in Hochland Park urban area," it was stated.
The Ministry's spokesperson, Julius Ngweda, confirmed on enquiry yesterday that it was found that the plastic bags had not been removed from the air intake tubes after the maintenance inspection.
The investigation into the accident is continuing, with a full report to be released once it has been completed.
The Hochland Park crash was the fifth serious incident in less than 11 months involving an aircraft that had taken off from Eros Airport.
Since late October last year eight people have lost their lives in three fatal crashes of aircraft that had taken off from that airport.
All but one of these accidents remain under investigation.
THE deadly plane crash in Windhoek's Hochland Park area 10 days ago was caused by a "human error" - plastic bags were left over the air intake tubes of the aircraft during a maintenance inspection three days before the accident, according to a first report on the investigation of the incident.
Preliminary findings in the investigation released by the Ministry of Works and Transport yesterday have identified a maintenance inspection that was done on the aircraft three days before it was to crash-land in Hochland Park's Papegaien Road as a pivotal event in the run-up to the crash.
During the inspection a foreign object was left on part of the aircraft's engine, it was indicated.
This oversight later had catastrophic results.
Five Swiss visitors to Namibia were on board the Cessna 210 aircraft, V5-BIG, which was operated by a Windhoek-based air charter company, Wings Over Africa, when it took off from Eros Airport shortly before 09h00 on September 7.
'NO SIGNS' The group's intended destination was Huab Lodge in the Kunene Region.
According to the report released yesterday, the pilot noticed no abnormalities during pre-flight checks and during take-off.
After the take-off, everything was still normal and the pilot retracted the plane's undercarriage according to normal procedure while he also reduced the aircraft's engine power to 2 500 revolutions per minute.
"At about 600 feet to 700 feet above ground level, the engine power faded away without any special noise or warning," it is stated in the Ministry's statement, which was signed by Works and Transport Minister Helmut Angula.
The pilot turned the plane to the left to carry out an emergency landing in Papegaien Road, it is related in the statement.
After making contact with the ground, though, the plane's left wing collided with a streetlight pole, and the aircraft swung forcefully to the left.
It struck the boundary walls of four houses before it came to a rest.
A 44-year-old surgeon from Lausanne in Switzerland, Nicolas Peloponissios, was seriously injured in the crash.
He died in a Windhoek hospital a few hours after the accident.
MAINTENANCE According to the Ministry's statement the aircraft had been scheduled for an inspection with an aircraft maintenance organisation at Eros Airport on September 4.
"During the inspection, the air intake tubes (ducts) were removed, air filters were also removed for cleaning and the engine had to be washed with water," it is stated in the report released by the Ministry.
"As per engineers report, plastic bags were used to cover the air intake tubes (ducts) during the engine cleaning process in order to prevent water from entering the air intake tubes (ducts).
The aircraft was ground run before it was delivered back to the owner (Wings over Africa) on the 5th September 2008.
"Investigations revealed that the human error was a contributing factor to the engine loss of power, which resulted in an emergency landing and a subsequent crash in Hochland Park urban area," it was stated.
The Ministry's spokesperson, Julius Ngweda, confirmed on enquiry yesterday that it was found that the plastic bags had not been removed from the air intake tubes after the maintenance inspection.
The investigation into the accident is continuing, with a full report to be released once it has been completed.
The Hochland Park crash was the fifth serious incident in less than 11 months involving an aircraft that had taken off from Eros Airport.
Since late October last year eight people have lost their lives in three fatal crashes of aircraft that had taken off from that airport.
All but one of these accidents remain under investigation.