Republic of Congo Crash

[kingair9]

Stavros Papaioannou is indeed Cypriot.

Was - he died in 2009 (see the history of his Cypriot furniture company)

I have rarely seen a dead corpse top be quoted in such a whole lot of media like him after the crash...

But back to topic: There is more and more reports from different sources that there may have been as many as 178 people on board instead of the 110 informed by Hewa Bora earlier. I cannot see how to fit 178 people into a 727-100 while at the same time fulfilling MaxPax rules but this remains to be confirmed.

[Diamond Bob]

Wikipedia lists the max seating capacity of a Boeing 727-100 as 149.

Boeing 727 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[kingair9]

See what I mean...? Something just does not fit. Either all news reports are wrong or at least 30 people (if all-y config which I doubt => so probably 40-50 people) were standing during the flight if the tally is correct...

[DownIn3Green]

I have personally spoke with a fellow PPruner today on the phone and related to him that while in Angola we flew over 230 DRC employees back to Kinshasha on a 727 100...It was outfitted with fuel tanks inside, but that didn't mean these folks wouldn't fit...

Anyone who has been there and done that would understand...DI3G

[Diamond Bob]

There is nothing humorous about this crash, but there certainly is a comedy of errors surrounding the numbers game. Two news stories today:

DRC plane crash toll rises - Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za

Channel 6 News » Death toll from DR Congo plane crash lowered to 75

You can't make this stuff up.

[Siguarda al fine]

Stavros alive and well

Rumours of Stavros death are greatly exaggerated, both he and the appendage that sprouted from his nose are alive and well.

[jcjeant]

Hi,

All Ewa Bora flights cancelled cause license suspended
Crash au Congo: plus de licence pour Hewa Bora | Air Journal

The airline Hewa Bora Airways license suspended indefinitely by the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo, after the July 8 crash that caused the deaths of at least 80 people

[20milesout]

Preliminary report

"A preliminary report, still without data from the black boxes, introduced by the accident investigation commission points out:

- the flight crew misjudged weather
- the airline assigned unqualified/non-licensed crew to operate the Boeing 727-100
- tower controllers were not licensed
- tower controllers provided erroneous/false weather data
- the airport authority lacked security plans
The commission also raises doubt about the validity of the registration (9Q-COP) of the aircraft by the Civil Aviation Authority."

(avherald, Aug 17, 2011)

Seems like really no one knew what he was doing on that day

[The Ancient Geek]

No surprises there.
SOP for operations in the DRC.

[MartinCh]

20milesout,

WTF ! Absolutely astounding 'preliminary'.

I mean, I'm just fresh CPL holder/observer/reader, but talking about Swiss cheese holes 'aligning' in ADM is useless for some (too many I guess) African places. That sounds like complete vacuum of safety. Not even pretending to take it seriously.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Without having lived here, most folks just don't get Africa. Unfortunately dictating policy using a Western mindset is a futile exercise.

[BUSHJEPPY]

Hewa Bora Audit

Unfortunately, only in French.

In short, after having found out that Hewa Bora was illegally maintaining its aircraft and power plants in its Kinshasa facility, the AAC recommends the airlines to resume operation after it officially apologized to the victims' relatives (200 or so deaths in two separate air crashes) and officially submit a plan of action to the autorities. Meanwhile, it can lease in ACMI foreign registered aircraft.


Plongeon à l