Hansie killed by negligence?

[Gunship]

Johannesburg - Poor maintenance of landing instruments at the George airport and a decision to save money rather than replace some of the instruments, could have contributed to the crash in which the former South African cricket captain, Hansie Cronje and two pilots were killed last year.

According to a signed affidavit of Paul O'Sullivan, the former security chief of Airport Companies (ACSA), the instrument landing system at the airport was faulty quite a while before the crash occurred. The system often went down during thunderstorms and sometimes even without any obvious reason.

The statement said that in a preliminary crash report it was established that the ILS was faulty during the night of the crash. The ILS sends a beam into the sky at a particular angle. An incoming aircraft "crosses" the beam and uses it to descend.

O"Sullivan claimed in his statement that ACSA knew of the problems quite a while before the accident, but "no steps were taken to rectify the problems."

"Minutes of the meetings will show that although ACSA was told to replace the system, they decided against it in order to save", the statement said.

He also stated that ACSA refused or failed to supply the investigating officials of the civil aviation authority with the required information. This was done because it could reflect badly on the ACSA. The report has been sent to the office of the public protector for evaluation.

Mr Solomon Makgale, ACSA spokesperson, said in reaction to the allegations that ACSA did not undertake investigations. The investigation was in the hands of the civil aviation authorities and they were waiting for the results.

He pointed out that the maintenance of instruments at airports was done by the air traffic and navigation services.

The civil aviation authorities are responsible for the ILS signal. Information given to pilots by the authorities indicate the signal was last calibrated in George on 9 May 2002. Calibrations are done every six months.

KC Marobela, spokesperson for the civil aviation authority, says "a report of the investigation is expected in August. Results of tests being conducted in Britain are still being awaited."

O'Sullivan stopped working at ACSA at the end of last month. Makgale said insurmountable differences existed between ACSA and O'Sullivan.

Cronje, captain Willie Meyer and co-pilot Ian Noakes were killed on June 1 last year when the cargo plane they were flying from Johannesburg to George crashed into a mountain just outside George during inclement weather. :(

[B Sousa]

Could be a problem.....BUT you have to remember when on an Approach in Instrument Conditions, Your Indicated Altitude should always be above Decision Height.
No matter whos at fault its a sad statement all around.

[Bucket]

This is the first time I've read of any material facts since that ghastly day. I knew Ian Noakes and spoke to him 48 hours before the crash. Was truly saddened to see the picture of the wreakage in the Sunday papers.

Even if the ILS equipment was duff how does that explain the location of the aircraft???!!! If it crashed short finals for e.g. then faulty ILS could be factor. What about altitude? What about ROD?
All the other supplementary checks still abide.

I do not think all the facts are out; therefore wait for the official report.

[tired]

I have no idea what the facts are in this case, but as Bucket pointed out, the crash occurred some distance away from the airport - about 10nm if I'm not mistaken? - and nowhere near the approach path to either runway. As far as I'm aware they crashed after a go-around. So even if the ILS was u/s on the night it had nothing to do with the crash, other than the fact that it might have caused the go-around in the first place.

And as someone in the article points out, the ILS is the responsibility of ATNS, not ACSA.

Sounds like someone is trying for his 15 minutes of fame - pity the journalist who wrote the piece didn't do some basic checking first.

[Skaz]

the sketchy info I have indicates they did the approach, but wx was below minima and they executed a missed-appr, but on this night they approached from the 'other' end, usually approaches were the other way round...thus on the first run after the initial climb, the turn was made the wrong way, outta habbit, and smacked the mountain.........this is a rumour.

be that as it may, there is no one single factor that influences a flight and ends in an accident, many events have to come together to eventually overwhelm the safety-controls, and then end in disaster

and for heavens sake, dont say it was pilot error, there's no such thing:*

[Gunship]

The investigation into the aircraft crash in which disgraced former Proteas cricket captain Hansie Cronje and two flight crew were killed in June last year has not yet been completed.

Civil Aviation Authority general manager for legal services, KC Marobela said on Wednesday that the investigation would take about another six months to complete.

Marobela was reacting to weekend newspaper reports speculating on the cause of the accident. One report cited poor maintenance of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the George airport which could have led to the accident.

Marobela said it was inappropriate at this stage, without the benefit of the accident investigation report, to conclude that the ILS constituted the probable cause of the accident.

"The issue of the ILS is one of the many issues that are investigated in determining the probable cause of the accident.

"No preliminary accident report with conclusions or findings on probable cause or causes of the accident has been made," Marobela said.

He assured the public that the CAA regularly inspected airport infrastructure and installations at all licensed South African airports to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

"All South African licensed airports meet regulatory requirements and are among the safest in the world," Marobela said.