Olympia air crash report out, zeroes in on various pilot errors

A COMBINATION of pilot errors have been identified as the probable cause of the aircraft crash that claimed the lives of a young South African pilot and five Israeli passengers in Windhoek’s Olympia area in January this year.

The report on the official investigation of the January 11 crash, which was the deadliest aircraft accident in Namibian airspace in more than a decade, was released by the Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations in the Ministry of Works and Transport yesterday. With no signs of mechanical failure having been found in the investigation of the wrecked and burnt remains of the Cessna 210 aircraft involved in the crash, the report concluded that the first probable cause of the crash was that the aeroplane had stalled, resulting in a total loss of control, shortly after take-off from Eros Airport on a flight to Mokuti Lodge near Etosha National Park.The report indicates that a critical combination of factors resulted in the stall: * the aircraft was overloaded; * the aircraft load was positioned too far to the back of the plane, shifting its centre of gravity to the back and leading to the plane’s nose lifting prematurely during take-off; * the pilot chose a short runway for the take-off; * the high temperature that day, combined with the high altitude of the airport, appear not to have been properly taken into account by the pilot; and * the pilot was relatively inexperienced and was not properly briefed about conditions at Eros Airport.Factors identified as contributing to the accident include: * Improper Flight Planning; * Lack of situational awareness and poor airmanship; and * the pilot was unfamiliar with Eros Airport data.In the report, compiled by the Director of Aircraft Accident Investigations, Ericksson Nengola, it is recommended that the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) should carry out an audit to determine if the operator of the aircraft, Swakopmund-based Atlantic Aviation, fully complies with Namibia’s Civil Aviation Regulations.It is further recommended that the DCA and all air charter operators should ensure that pilots are made aware of conditions surrounding the effect that temperature has on air density, and the effect of a hot and high environment on engine performance.Air operators should also train their pilots on fuel management during take-off, for example to ensure that that sufficient fuel flow is maintained for full engine power during take-off, it is recommended in the report.It is further recommended that charter operators should strongly encourage their pilots to do proper flight planning before every flight.Pilots should remain aware of the situations around them and should remember that the ultimate responsibility for every flight lies with the pilot and not with air traffic controllers, while air traffic controllers should not suggest ideas or the use of runways to pilots, it is further recommended.The DCA should get adequate inspectors to monitor aircraft operators and the activities of charter companies, it is suggested in addition.It is further suggested that commercial pilots obtaining licence conversions to allow them to fly especially Cessna 210 aircraft should be required to undergo training that includes operating the aircraft in conditions specific to Namibia, such as gravel, hot, high and short airfields.The pilot at the controls of the aircraft, registered V5 GWH, that crashed on January 11, 24-year-old South African Dani’l Marais, had almost 1 215 hours of flight experience, of which 1 006 hours were on Cessna 210 aircraft.On the day of the crash he had flown the aircraft from Swakopmund to Eros Airport, where he had to pick up five passengers and fly them to Mokuti Lodge, it is related in the report.Marais already completed forms to reflect the weight and balance of the aircraft before he had even flown to Windhoek to meet his passengers, it is stated in the report.His calculation of their combined weight however was between 47 and 78 kilograms lower than what the actual weight was calculated at during the investigation.The end result was that the weight of the plane exceeded its maximum specified take-off weight by between 105 and 134 kg, and that the aircraft’s centre of gravity had shifted too far towards its tail.Before taking off, Marais requested Eros Air Traffic Control for permission to prepare to use Runway 19, which is the airport’s longest runway.However, after being informed that a pilot who had previously taken off from the airport had reported a down-draught south of that runway, Marais was told by the tower controller that the shorter Runway 09 was available.Marais asked the tower for the length of the runway and was told that it was “one point five”, being 1 500 metres.As he taxied to the runway threshold, the control tower corrected itself and informed him that the runway length was actually 1 005 metres.After a short delay, Marais reported that he would stick to his plan to use Runway 09, it is recounted in the report.When he started the take-off run down the runway, “(t)he aircraft was with excessive weight and aft centre of gravity and this quite clearly caused a lighter-than-normal nose,” the report states.”For this reason, the aircraft lifted its nose at a distance of 2 200 (feet) to 2 400 ft, and lifted off shortly after.”After gaining some altitude, it appears that the aircraft could not gain additional height and speed, the report indicates.The pilot then executed a turn to the left, possibly because the terrain in that direction of the airport was lower, but a turn at such an angle caused the plane to stall.Due to the excessive weight of the plane, the high altitude of the airport and the high temperature that day – around 31 degrees Celsius – the pilot’s calculations on when the plane would stall would have been off the mark, too, the report indicates.According to Marais’s flight log book, he had flown to Eros Airport only once before, about a month before the crash.On that flight, he landed at Eros with five passengers on board and took off back to Swakopmund with no passengers.Had the aircraft been kept on the ground for longer as it gained speed down the runway, the flight might not have ended in disaster, it is indicated.The report states: “Investigators discovered that remaining on the runway to its end could have given him about 15 knots airspeed more, which would make all the difference.”With no signs of mechanical failure having been found in the investigation of the wrecked and burnt remains of the Cessna 210 aircraft involved in the crash, the report concluded that the first probable cause of the crash was that the aeroplane had stalled, resulting in a total loss of control, shortly after take-off from Eros Airport on a flight to Mokuti Lodge near Etosha National Park.The report indicates that a critical combination of factors resulted in the stall: * the aircraft was overloaded; * the aircraft load was positioned too far to the back of the plane, shifting its centre of gravity to the back and leading to the plane’s nose lifting prematurely during take-off; * the pilot chose a short runway for the take-off; * the high temperature that day, combined with the high altitude of the airport, appear not to have been properly taken into account by the pilot; and * the pilot was relatively inexperienced and was not properly briefed about conditions at Eros Airport.Factors identified as contributing to the accident include: * Improper Flight Planning; * Lack of situational awareness and poor airmanship; and * the pilot was unfamiliar with Eros Airport data.In the report, compiled by the Director of Aircraft Accident Investigations, Ericksson Nengola, it is recommended that the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) should carry out an audit to determine if the operator of the aircraft, Swakopmund-based Atlantic Aviation, fully complies with Namibia’s Civil Aviation Regulations. It is further recommended that the DCA and all air charter operators should ensure that pilots are made aware of conditions surrounding the effect that temperature has on air density, and the effect of a hot and high env
ironment on engine performance.Air operators should also train their pilots on fuel management during take-off, for example to ensure that that sufficient fuel flow is maintained for full engine power during take-off, it is recommended in the report.It is further recommended that charter operators should strongly encourage their pilots to do proper flight planning before every flight.Pilots should remain aware of the situations around them and should remember that the ultimate responsibility for every flight lies with the pilot and not with air traffic controllers, while air traffic controllers should not suggest ideas or the use of runways to pilots, it is further recommended.The DCA should get adequate inspectors to monitor aircraft operators and the activities of charter companies, it is suggested in addition.It is further suggested that commercial pilots obtaining licence conversions to allow them to fly especially Cessna 210 aircraft should be required to undergo training that includes operating the aircraft in conditions specific to Namibia, such as gravel, hot, high and short airfields.The pilot at the controls of the aircraft, registered V5 GWH, that crashed on January 11, 24-year-old South African Dani’l Marais, had almost 1 215 hours of flight experience, of which 1 006 hours were on Cessna 210 aircraft.On the day of the crash he had flown the aircraft from Swakopmund to Eros Airport, where he had to pick up five passengers and fly them to Mokuti Lodge, it is related in the report.Marais already completed forms to reflect the weight and balance of the aircraft before he had even flown to Windhoek to meet his passengers, it is stated in the report.His calculation of their combined weight however was between 47 and 78 kilograms lower than what the actual weight was calculated at during the investigation.The end result was that the weight of the plane exceeded its maximum specified take-off weight by between 105 and 134 kg, and that the aircraft’s centre of gravity had shifted too far towards its tail.Before taking off, Marais requested Eros Air Traffic Control for permission to prepare to use Runway 19, which is the airport’s longest runway.However, after being informed that a pilot who had previously taken off from the airport had reported a down-draught south of that runway, Marais was told by the tower controller that the shorter Runway 09 was available.Marais asked the tower for the length of the runway and was told that it was “one point five”, being 1 500 metres.As he taxied to the runway threshold, the control tower corrected itself and informed him that the runway length was actually 1 005 metres.After a short delay, Marais reported that he would stick to his plan to use Runway 09, it is recounted in the report.When he started the take-off run down the runway, “(t)he aircraft was with excessive weight and aft centre of gravity and this quite clearly caused a lighter-than-normal nose,” the report states.”For this reason, the aircraft lifted its nose at a distance of 2 200 (feet) to 2 400 ft, and lifted off shortly after.”After gaining some altitude, it appears that the aircraft could not gain additional height and speed, the report indicates.The pilot then executed a turn to the left, possibly because the terrain in that direction of the airport was lower, but a turn at such an angle caused the plane to stall.Due to the excessive weight of the plane, the high altitude of the airport and the high temperature that day – around 31 degrees Celsius – the pilot’s calculations on when the plane would stall would have been off the mark, too, the report indicates.According to Marais’s flight log book, he had flown to Eros Airport only once before, about a month before the crash.On that flight, he landed at Eros with five passengers on board and took off back to Swakopmund with no passengers.Had the aircraft been kept on the ground for longer as it gained speed down the runway, the flight might not have ended in disaster, it is indicated.The report states: “Investigators discovered that remaining on the runway to its end could have given him about 15 knots airspeed more, which would make all the difference.”

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