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Airport condition possible cause of Mbeya air crash
2006-12-28 09:55:37
By Judica tarimo
As investigations into Mbeya plane crash continue, the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) yesterday released technical details on how the incident occurred.
The authority’s public relations officer, Abel Ngapemba, said an interview with the pilot had revealed that the pilot had lined on runway 13 ready for take off, but because of sunglare at the material time, he decided to use runway 31 instead.
The pilot also chose to initiate his take off from about 200 metres beyond the threshold of runway 31 because he was not certain of the condition of the runway beyond that position.
”The pilot chose to apply full power on brakes and learned the mixtures before initiating the take off roll.
As the aircraft rolled for take off, the pilot reported to have felt acceleration/deceleration effects caused by undulations and wetness of the runway,” said Ngapemba in an official statement.
According to the pilot, the target rotation speed was 150kt, but had to rotate at around 96kt when it became imminent that the remaining runway length was not enough to stop the aircraft.
Shortly after take off, the official said, the pilot felt a complete lack of acceleration and had to lower the nose in order to increase airspeed.
”As he did so, the aircraft collided with a roof of a house located about 500 metres beyond the threshold of runway 13.
The landing gear and the plane tail hit the top end of the wall of the house and the roof at about five metres above the ground,” he said.
The aircraft subsequently collided with three more houses and an electric pole with live cables and broke up.
As a result, the outboard portions of the left and right wings, together with the main tanks, seperated from the aircraft and caught fire.
”They were completely destroyed by fire. Both engines also broke-off their wings and one of them caught fire. One of the houses was burnt,” said Ngapemba, adding: ”The main wreckage settled close to a road between two rows of houses.”
Residents of the area extricated the occupants from the wreckage and fought the fire, as Mbeya airport had no fire tender.
Technicians said weather at the time was fine, as temparature stood at 17 degrees centigrade, and the wind was calm.
However, the exact weight of the aircraft, a Cessna 310R serial number 1333 manufactured by the Cessna aircraft company of USA, at the time of take off, has not been established so far. But experts put the estimated take off weight at 6,046lb.
Mbeya Airport, whose elevation is 5,600 feet above sea level, has only one runway 13/31, which is 15,000 metres long.
The surface is covered by grass and dirt, with a rough runway, which has many foot paths used by pedestrians and animals that frequently cross the runway at different points.
”There is a grass field and flat beyond the end of runway 13. However, there are buildings and high ground along the extended centre line of runway,” said Ngapemba.
He said investigations into the cirmstances leading to the accident are continuing. These include sending aircraft engines and propellers recovered from the crash site to the US laboratory for further examination.
A Dar es Salaam-based Heritage Insurance Group of Companies recently conducted an assessment on the magnitude of the damage in the context of working out modalities of compensating victims of the accident.
Three people died, including a journalist, Theresia Nyantori, after the six-seater bird crashed soon after take-off from Mbeya Airport on December 16.
The aircraft was manufactured in 1978 and arrived in the country in 1979.
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