FG Releases Preliminary Report On DANA: AIB Report Blames Engine Failure for Dana Crash

Federal Government Thursday released the preliminary report of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) into the possible cause of the Dana airline which crashed last month in the Iju Shaga area of Lagos State, killing all 153 passengers and six crew members on board.

The Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of AIB, Capt. Muhtar Usman, under whose auspices the investigation was conducted, said the plane crashed because of complete loss of power from its two engine, while approaching the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

In a preliminary report signed by Usman and made available by Mr. Joe Obi, Personal Assistant to the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, the CEO stated that the plane that crashed was on the fourth flight segment of the day, adding that it made consistent two round-trips between Lagos and Abuja.

The statement said: “The accident occurred during the return leg of the second trip. DANA 992 was on final approach for runway 18R at Lagos when the crew reported the total loss of power.”

According to the report, the plane after taxing in Abuja was airborne at 14:58 after initial confirmation by the ground engineers that it had a fuel endurance of 3.5 hours.

The report added: “The cockpit voice recorder (CVR), retained about 31 minutes of the flight and starts about 15:15, at which time the captain and first officer were in a discussion of a non-normal condition regarding the correlation between the engine throttle setting and an engine power indication.”

The flight crew, the report added, did not voice concerns then that the condition would affect the continuation of the flight as they continued to monitor the situation “but they became increasingly concerned with the flight’s transition through the initial descent from a cruise altitude at 15:22 and the subsequent approach phase.”

It was at the crucial decision moment, during the period of 15:37 and 15:41, that the flight crew engaged in pre-landing tasks including deployment of the slats, and extension of the flaps and landing gear, indicated the AIB report.

“At 15:41:16 the first officer (FO) inquired, ‘Both engines coming up?’ and the captain replied ‘negative.’ The flight crew subsequently discussed and agreed to declare an emergency.

“At 15:42:10, DANA 992 radioed an emergency distress call indicating ‘dual engine failure . . . negative response from throttle.’”

At 15:42:35, the flight crew lowered the flaps further and continued with the approach and discussed landing alternatively on runway 18L. At 15:42:45, the captain reported the runway in sight and instructed the FO to raise the flaps up and 4 seconds later to raise the landing gear.

“At 15:43:27, the captain informed the FO ‘we just lost everything, we lost an engine. I lost both engines.’ During the next 25 seconds until the end of the CVR recording, the flight crew was attempting to restart the engines.

“Subsequently, airplane crashed in a residential area about 5.8 miles north of Lagos.”

Usman said the airplane struck an uncompleted building, two trees and three complete buildings. The wreckage was confined with the separated tail section and engines located at the beginning of the debris field as AIB concluded their investigation.

The commissioner stressed that the sole objective of any investigation of an accident or incident is for the prevention of accidents and incidents, stressing that it is not for the purpose of apportioning blame or liability.

He said: “AIB with the participation of the parties, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), will seek to identify any area of safety concerns during the investigation and implement the appropriate actions for correction or improvement.”

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Dana Air Crash Victims: Tears As Family & Friends Gather To Bid Final Farewell To The Anyenes (PHOTOS)

In Lagos, service of songs holds for family killed in Dana crash.It was a gloomy evening at the UPDC Estate, Lekki, recently where a service of songs was held in honour of a family wiped out in the recent Dana air crash. The Anyene family lost six members to the incident, including Barrister Onyeka Collins Anyene, his wife, Maimuna and their four children.

Despite the morning downpour that lasted till the late hours of the afternoon, sympathisers, friends, well-wishers and family members gathered to bid the victims farewell. The event was organised by Lagos Business School (LBS) Alumni Association of the Executive MBA Class 6 of 2001-2002.

An air of sadness pervaded the venue just as the songs were carefully chosen to reflect the mood of the evening. Some sympathisers and family members could not hold back tears. To help calm their nerves, an Acapela group rendered two songs entitled, weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning and an Irish song of blessing.

In his exhortation, Revd. M. K. Obiora Anyika prayed God to comfort the family and use the occasion to win souls for His kingdom. Reading from 1 Corinthians 15:12-26, Psalm 39: 4 and Ecclesiastes 1, the cleric took the sober, sombre congregation through the essence of life. “The Bible says, vanity upon vanity. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? David compared his life to a shadow and decided to live one day at a time,” he stated.

He urged them not to ask God questions and should not weep as those who do not have hope. Anyika blamed the incident on the decay and corruption in the nation saying: “We should not ask God questions because on a daily basis, standard is dropping. Corruption is high in the nation. Nobody is safe on the air or land. If we have served the nation so well, we wouldn’t be dragged into this mud.”

For the Anyene clan, it was one tragedy too many as the entire Collins Onyeka Anyene family was wiped out. His wife, Maimuna, who hailed from Niger State, also lost her mother, Mrs. Bakisumaidi Mijindadi and two cousins, Ogechi Njoku and Oluchi Onyeyiri.

However, the grief-stricken family was comforted by glowing tributes from friends, business associates, politicians, organisations, alumni and town union members, among others, packaged in a book of tributes and distributed at the venue. In his tribute entitled, My Friend, the Quintessential Collins Is Gone, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal said: “ I have known Collins Onyeka Anyene, fondly referred to as Collins by friends and associates for over 10 years.

In fact, Collins has become more or less a part of my family.” He described him as a brilliant, industrious and forthright fellow, who exuded confidence and drive ceaselessly in all things that he did. “An incurable optimist and goal getter, compulsive workaholic, Collins would not go to sleep while his task remained unaccomplished. Indeed, Collins is a bundle of talent and promise gone with the wind. For me, it is still difficult to refer to him in the past tense.

Here was a determined and focused young man, who never had doubts about his objectives and goals. For many who knew him at close range, it was evident that he was a rising sun but alas, this rising sun set before noon.”

  

Mr. Emeka Etiaba, a former governorship aspirant in Anambra State, in his tribute said: “Much as we feel deep sadness on your demise, we recognise the fact that you were a young man who meant a lot to his friends, siblings, relatives and indeed all that came across you. We thank God that you left good impressions that will stand the test of time. You engraved your virtues in the hearts of many.”

The late Onyeka Collins, a twin, was born on August 16, 1967. He studied law at the University of Jos and later bagged an LLB from the Nigerian Law School in 1990. He obtained his Executive MBA from the Lagos Business School in 2002 and did executive programme courses at Harvard Kennedy School and London School of Economics in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

After his national youth service, he had a stint with Ade Odofin Law Firm before setting up Jus Polis Law Firm. He supported philanthropic causes, provided scholarships to the needy and kept many widows and needy on his payroll. In his vote of thanks, the deceased’s elder brother, Dr. Ben Anyene, thanked God and everyone for supporting the deceased’s family.

According to Dr. Anyene, Onyeka left the United States on May 27, 2012 with his family to attend his brother in-law’s wedding, share some quiet moments and present his children to their grandmother, his mum, who is in her mid 80s. The remains of Anyene and his family will be laid to rest on Friday, July 13, in his home town Ndiowu in Anambra.

May their soul rest in perfect peace.

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Nigeria Air-Force Training Plane Crashlands In Benin Airport

Another air mishap was, yesterday, averted at the Benin airport as Nigeria Airforce, (NAF) training plane crashed upon landing on the runway.

The incident which occurred at about 10:31am threw the entire airport into pandemonium as officials at the airport were said have deplored their emergency unit to the rescue.

Sources at the airport confirmed that it was an NAF training plane with registration number 5N-BKS had two pilots on board.

The incident which, however, caused delay in flight schedule for several hours took the quick response of the airport authority and that of the commanding officer of Air Maritime for situation to return to normalcy.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Air Force has stated that none of her aircrafts was involved in any air mishap in Benin as being erroneously reported in the media.

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Drug Plane Crashes In Honduras

• Police officers carrying a bag of confiscated cocaine at the police headquarters in Tegucigalpa

Honduran police say a plane carrying a load of cocaine has crashed in eastern Honduras, killing at least one person on board.

Authorities say the twin-engine aircraft from Colombia crashed on Tuesday while being chased by government helicopters and airplanes.

Security Ministry spokesman Hector Ivan Mejia says one pilot died and the other was badly injured. Officials say 600 kilograms of cocaine were found on board, most of it burned in the accident.

Honduras is a major trans-shipment point for cocaine heading from South America to the United States. A US Drug Enforcement Administration agent shot and killed a suspected drug trafficker during a raid in a remote northern area of Honduras last month and a US-assisted government raid in May killed four people.

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