DHL Crash in Gabon

[BDL SLF]

Cargo plane plunges into sea off Gabon, crew alive - Yahoo! News (http://beta.news.yahoo.com/cargo-plane-plunges-sea-off-gabon-crew-alive-145954528.html)

Not much info in the article but figured you guys would want to know about this.

[capt.m]

Any more news??
Aircraft type? Cause?? Etc..

[Hotel Tango]

Good chance it's an AN-26.

[Hotel Tango]

Accident: Solenta AN26 near Libreville on Jun 6th 2011, ditched in the sea


By Simon Hradecky, created Monday, Jun 6th 2011 16:23Z, last updated Monday, Jun 6th 2011 19:47Z

A Solenta Aviation Gabon Antonov AN-26 on behalf of DHL, registration TR-LIE performing a freight flight from Port Gentil to Libreville (Gabon) with 4 crew, needed to ditch about 3km short of Libreville's runway 34 due to some technical failure around 10:30L (09:30Z). All 4 crew left the aircraft with injuries and were taken to a local hospital, the aircraft got submerged with the top of the vertical stabilizer still above water.

Gabon's Transport Ministry reported that the crew was cleared to land at Libreville when the crew reported hydraulic problems.

Witnesses on the ground reported both propellers were not turning.

Metars:
FOOL 061100Z VRB02KT 9999 SCT010 BKN030 28/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 061030Z VRB02KT 9999 SCT010 BKN030 28/22 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 061000Z 00000KT 9999 SCT010 OVC030 28/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 060930Z 00000KT 9999 SCT010 OVC030 27/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 060900Z 00000KT 9999 SCT010 OVC030 26/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 060830Z VRB03KT 8000 SCT010 OVC030 25/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 060800Z VRB03KT 9999 FEW010 OVC030 25/23 Q1013 NOSIG
FOOL 060730Z 03003KT 9999 FEW010 OVC033 25/23 Q1013 NOSIG

Source: Aviation Herald

[VFD]

Gabon's Transport Ministry reported that the crew was cleared to land at Libreville when the crew reported hydraulic problems.

Witnesses on the ground reported both propellers were not turning.
Both propellers not turning would sound more like a fuel issue unless they knew they were going to ditch.

[ross_M]

Both propellers not turning would sound more like a fuel issue unless they knew they were going to ditch.


How long does it take for these props to spin down due to their inertia?

[Checkboard]

You get hydraulic problems when both engines stop!:rolleyes:

[DRPAM007]

If I can hazard a guess:
There's a 5% chance that the cause was completetly unforeseen and unavoidable. And thus, the crew did a fantastic job to be alive. The pilot being the last line of defense in the accident chain.

And there's the 95% chance that Once again humans will say

" this is Africa and we can get away with anything, just like we've been doing before"

You'll be shocked to find out the hazardous behaviors even expatriate, EU, USA trained and experienced JAR/ FAA license holders let themselves do once the get below latitude 30N.


It is the professionals( pilots/engineers) who make operational decisions that make the African airspace unsafe.
But better we wait for the final report, which I hope will prove me wrong in this case.
If we are not vigilante we'll find it's the case of the good, the bad, or the Ugly....

[jcjeant]

Hi,

Kinshasa airport :eek:
Dailymotion - Nomades TV : Congo, aviation sur liste noire - une vidéo News & Politics (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa9h0q_nomades-tv-congo-aviation-sur-liste_news)

[40&80]

Great video...
Loved the "Low tech laid back style"
Garbage everywhere and the washing drying under the wing!
Reminds me of JKT and the four tins underneath the RR Darts of a Merpati Vicount...low tech...low waste solution... to catch the steady trickle of engine oil!
I commented on this scheme in 1971 to the "Senior ground "engineer".
Told..."We top up the engines with it just before engine start when passengers all on board".
Good luck to these brave guys in the Congo (someones got to do it!) maintaining old Airbus and Boeing glass cockpit aircraft and getting them certified fit for flight.
Aviation moving on in such a manner... all the various authorities have achieved this in forty years?