293 air accidents since 2005

ALMOST 300 small-aircraft accidents have happened in Namibia since 2005 and ten of them were fatal, according to Deputy Works and Transport Minister Paul Smit.

He replied to questions put to him in Parliament by DTA politician McHenry Venaani on Thursday.’In 2005 there were 78 accidents, 83 in 2006 and 89 in 2007, while accident figures dropped to 43 in 2008,’ Smit said. Sixteen people died in 10 of the accidents, with the highest fatalities in 2008, when seven people died in air accidents. Human error caused most of the accidents – 37 in 2005, 44 in 2006, 50 in 2007 and 20 last year. Technical faults caused 20 accidents in 2005, 27 in 2006, one in 2007 and 13 last year.’The Ministry approached international aviation experts to assist the Directorate of Civil Aviation to come on par with international standards and five of them are currently in Namibia,’ Smit said.’Their findings let them come up with recommendations for us to correct serious safety deficiencies such as incorrect air operator certificates and inadequate cockpit check lists and do away with unapproved minimum aviation equipment lists and aircraft operating manuals.’ Smit added that the five experts took part in air accident investigations in Namibia, where they found proof of inadequate flight training and aircraft maintenance as well as incorrect licensing procedures.’The expert team also found that some aircraft operating in Namibia did so without certificates of airworthiness, while companies doing maintenance on aeroplanes did not operate with Namibian regulations and standards. A robust training and retraining scheme is currently underway.’