The Hard Queries Asked on Cameroon Plane Crash

By Patrick Mathangani and Cyrus Kinyungu (FromThe Standard- Kenya)

In the wake of a muddled rescue effort and puzzling inconsistencies in information officially released on the Kenya Airways crash, questions have emerged over the handling of the disaster in which 114 people died.

Piece of Wreckage from Kenya Airline Boeing (c) AFP

Several aviation experts and pilots raised queries over the discrepancies and questioned Cameroon’s competence in handling air disasters.

The issues arose as the airline reported the remains of 81 passengers in the plane that crashed in Douala had been recovered, and forensic experts began the tedious task of identifying them.

Nine of those who perished were members of the exclusively Kenyan crew, and the rest were spread across 25 nationalities.

The air crash on Saturday happened in the middle of a storm, awakening queries whether the pilot was properly warned of the weather condition before takeoff in pitch darkness at midnight.

The plane left Douala airport at 12.05am and crashed into a swampy section of a forested area barely 30 seconds into the flight. No one survived.

Dangerous airport

The airport has no weather radar, although the Boeing 737-800 was equipped with one.

One pilot said it was mandatory for international airports, especially those within storm-prone areas like Douala, to have weather radar equipment. Periodic reports on weather conditions should be relayed to pilots and documented every 30 minutes.

The pilot, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested lack of such equipment meant the airport was not up to recommended standards, and therefore dangerous.

Initial reports indicated the flight was delayed for one hour due to bad weather. However, it emerged on Wednesday the plane left at 12.05hrs, the usual slot for the airline’s flight to Nairobi.

Cameroonian authorities initially said a distress signal had been located 100 miles from Douala, although the wreckage was later spotted just 5.42 kilometres from the edge of the runway.

The pilot questioned why it was not possible to detect the plane from the control towers if it crashed so close to the runway.

"If the airport has a working radar, why did the civil aviation seek to use satellite information to locate the plane yet the radar should have detected it?" he asked.

He said it was possible the airport has a faulty radar system.

Slow response

As rescuers in radar-equipped helicopters scoured through dense forest near the alleged source of the signal, valuable time was lost. Officials later said they relied on European satellite-tracking information, which guided them to the wrong vicinity.

The delay meant there was less likelihood of finding any would-be survivors. Additionally, the airline said rescue efforts started late into the Saturday morning, a delay of nearly 11 hours since the distress signal was received.

It took rescuers more than 40 hours to reach the crash site and start rescue work just outside Douala, Cameroon’s biggest city and economic capital.

However, despite the proximity to the biggest city of over two million residents and a fairly developed infrastructure, it took nearly two days to trace the wreckage of the plane on Sunday.

Sources said Kenya Airways was informed about the disappearance of its plane several hours after the distress signal was received.

However, the airlines Chief Executive Officer Mr Titus Naikuni, confirmed it received the report in the morning, but added it came in good time because the status of the airplane had not been properly established.

The plane’s Flight Data Recorder was retrieved on Monday at the crash scene, where it had been submerged in water. Officials however said the device, which records about 1,000 parameters of the engines performance since it was switched on, was in good condition.

Cameroon poorly equipped

Kenya has said it prefers the recorder to be examined in Canada, which it views as a neutral country.

However, the voice recorder, which records conversations between the pilots and the control tower, were yet to be found.

An aeronautic engineer questioned why the disappearance of the plane was not immediately communicated if at all the flight was being monitored by radar.

He wondered if the airplane was equipped with an Emergency Location Beacon — a device that helps those on the ground to trace an aircraft in case of a crash.

"If it had the beacon what happened to its signals? Or was the beacon affected by the impact of the crash?" he posed.

However, he noted that if it was there, the beacon’s effectiveness might have been diminished when the plane plunged into the marshy area and remained submerged.

"Does Cameroon have helicopters well-equipped with up to date equipment that would help it trace the wreckage?" asked an aeronautical engineer who is also a trained pilot.

The engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the military should have such facilities even if the civil aviation does not have them.

He wondered whether Cameroon’s civil aviation was adequately equipped for emergency rescue missions.

"In light of the outright inadequate search and rescue preparedness at the airport, why should airlines continue to fly there? Is it not advisable to discontinue?" asked the engineer.

Investigators in Cameroon have started probing the cause of the crash. They have been joined by engineers from Boeing, the airplane’s manufacturers based in the United States.

Kenya Airways chief pilot Captain James Ouma, said at a press conference earlier the plane crashed nose first into the swamp. He said the nosedive was consistent with a plane stalling.

Comments

[Ma Mary]

One more reason for Southern Cameroonians to completely dissociate themselves from this POS country, the complete incompetence and carelessness about important things. We talk, they NEVER listen. Sarkozy, cut them off! I dont think he would. All that power! the little puffed up Napoleon wannabee will do no such thing.

[satya prakash gaur]

My ONLY son AMAN GAUR died in the above plane crash due to careless of keniya airways ? because why they allow to take off the flight they knows the weather is not good tell me the reasion ?
DOUALA is a big BUSINESS City then why the DOUALA Airport not having the latest weather RADAR SYSTAM & PROPER LIGHTING ARREGMENTS ?
TELL MEABOUT BLACK BOX & DATA RECORDER RESULTS.

S.P.GAUR
FATHER OF AMAN GAUR PASSENGER

[satya prakash gaur]

please inform me about my quarries.
thanks.