The Dana plane crash has brought about sorrow,
finger-pointing, questions, allegations and reminded us all about the potency
of death. More importantly, it’s best to make peace with your maker as Horatio
the ‘captain of the gates’ once said ‘death cometh soon or late’. Most Nigerians
were touched by the plane crash. Almost everyone knew a victim or you knew
someone who knew a victim - get my drift? Anyway, this is most tragic because
the plane crash could have been avoided; depending on what you have heard or
read. There’s a general consensus that the aircraft wasn’t mechanically sound
and the engineers who had worked on the plane had warned about this. Few things
I like to point out.
It’s been said that the aircraft was old and hence should
have been retired a long time ago – this may be one of the causes; I’ll leave
you to make up your mind as you read. In an Air space magazine, Rebbecca Maskell
wrote - ‘an aircraft’s lifespan is measured not in years but in pressurised
cycles. Each time an aircraft is pressurised during flight, its fuselage and
wings are stressed. Both are made of large , plate -like parts connected with
fasteners and rivets, and over time, cracks develop around the fastener holes
due to metal fatigue’. She went on to say that the life span of an aircraft is
determined by the manufacturer and is ‘usually based on take-off and landing
cycles’. On short haul flights, fuselage and wings are affected everyday as
they go through pressurization cycles; long haul flights not so much. Hence
aircrafts used for long haul flights can last 20yrs or more as some Boeing
747’s are 25-30yrs old and still in service. Basically, your everyday plane
used for short haul flights tend to have a shorter life span than the long haul
ones and manufacturers also have an ‘estimated’
date for when its aircrafts should be finally decommissioned or retired.
So I am hoping the authorities start making their enquiries along these lines.
The second aspect is the rumour/story surrounding the
president’s wife. The story is that she was in Lagos at the time and due to
security re the president’s wife, the airspace was closed or restricted. Am
sorry - this is very divisive, mischievous and coming from people trying to
score cheap political points. I am not a GEJ (president) apologist, just to
make things clear. The September 11 (9/11) saga has shown the world that
terrorists can strike by any means necessary. How many airborne scares have we
had in the last few years? We can’t forget the ‘shoe bomber’ Richard Reid or
the ‘underwear bomber’ our very own Mutallab; both who tried to blow up
airplanes in mid-air. If the Nigerian government makes an informed decision to
restrict or close its airspace due any perceived security threat which may put
the First Lady in harm’s way, (other VIP’s inclusively) then they are in the
right to do so; although the government has already stated that it hadn’t. The
restriction of a country’s airspace is a common practice all over the world.
When Michelle Obama and her daughter visited Spain in 2010, she was flanked by
68 US agents amid a tight security. Supposing there was a terrorist attack on
that day, wouldn’t there be a total security crackdown in the area and a
possible airspace restriction? Come the London Olympics, there will be
considerable restriction of the airspace during this event; see this http://olympics.airspacesafety.com/. On more than 2 occasions this month (June),
fighter jets have been scrambled to intercept violating planes on Obama’s
tours. Sometime in 2007, a small airplane flew over President Bush’s Texas
ranch while he was at the location with his wife, thereby violating airspace
restriction and fighter Jets were scrambled to intercept the plane – although
it came to nothing afterwards. Also during a presidential visit to Chicago in
Aug 2007, two F-16 fighter jets intercepted a kit plane flown by a 75years old
female after flying into a restricted territory. There are currently 49
temporary flight restrictions over the US airspace according to the FAA's
(Federal aviation administration) website, including one restriction that's
been in place since 2008 over Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii, an active volcano. Lastly,
for anyone who has ever flown, we know that planes fly in a ‘holding pattern’
whilst waiting to be cleared to land at airports. This process can go on for
several minutes before being cleared to land due to traffic or any other safety
related incident on the ground; if this plane wasn’t able to ‘hold’ for a few
minutes, then it wasn’t fit to fly (for those blaming the crash on the First
Lady, due to the plane being delayed in the air).
Finally, my grouse is not with Dana airlines/owners or
even the engineers; it is with the authority. Oh my God, don’t we have people
on the ground who can certify if a plane is good to go or not? If a plane is
sky worthy? Yes, the owners wanted the
plane to fly at all costs for financial gains and yes the engineers working on
the plane said it wasn’t fit to fly; but who and what authority gave the go
ahead for this plane to go into service after coming in from repairs? Where are
the documents to show or certify that all checks and faults had been looked
into or could it be that an individual was bribed to sign off this aircraft to
fly? Someone must have sold out! For the love of God, our planes should be
facing rigorous and robust checks before ferrying people from A to B. I am sure
that in Nigeria just like the US and Europe, there are periodic checks that are
carried out on aircrafts. In the US (with Europe and Canada) we have what is
known as ‘Aircraft maintenance checks’ that are approved by the FAA or other
such authorities. There is the ‘A CHECK’ which is performed every 500-800 hours
of flying time. This check can be done over-night and can take up to 24 hours
to perform. There is also the ‘B CHECK’ that is done every 4-6 months and can
take up to 3 days to be performed. ‘C CHECK’ is done every 15-21 months or a
specific amount of flying time determined the manufacturer. This can take
anywhere from 1-2 weeks, it is extensive and puts the aircraft out of service
until completed. The last one which is called a ‘D Check’ is the most
comprehensive. This is carried out every 5-6 years where the whole plane is
summarily disassembled, piece by piece. It can take up to 2 months to complete
and cost anywhere up to a million dollars. On the average commercial flights
perform 2-3 ‘ D checks’ before they are decommissioned or retired - so with
this information, we should be able to
determine and estimate the life span for our domestic airlines.
So the question is - do we have equivalents in Nigeria
for these types of checks (I am sure we do; if we don’t, then…. No way, we must
have), who or what authority is in charge of these checks? Who sits at the head
of this authority? In many other countries this person would have been sacked
or if he had a conscience he would have resigned... questions , questions,
questions as we wait for the black box to be processed for more insight into
the cause of the crash ( black box has been sent to the US for analysis)..We
wait……. RIP #DanaVictims, #Dana153
Twit? Follow me @mexy7777
HOA , salute!
HOA , salute!
