MAPUTO –An aircraft crash that occurred in Namibia was deliberately caused by the pilot. This is according to AIM. The paper said the preliminary investigation into the crash of the Mozambique Airlines (LAM) Embraer-190 in northern Namibia on November 29 showed that the disaster was caused deliberately by the pilot.
Mozambique Civil Aviation Institute (ICAM) chairperson of the regulatory body, Mr Joao de
Abreu was speaking at a Maputo press conference on Saturday night,citing the preliminary report from the commission of inquiry, signed by the Namibian chief investigator, Mr Theo Shilongo, and co-investigator Mr Hafeni Mweshixwa.
The Embraer was on a scheduled flight from Maputo to Luanda. As theplane crossed Botswana, all was normal, with the plane cruising at38,000 feet, and in good communication with the Gaborone control tower.
But the radar data showed that, at a obligatory reporting position over northern Botswana, the plane suddenly began a rapid descent. The control tower lost voice and radar contact with the Embraer, and set search operations in motion.
The “black box” flight recorders were recovered intact and sent to the United States National Transport Safety Board (NSTB) in Washington to be decoded and transcribed.
Abreu said that the plane was flying normally, with no mechanical malfunction.
But a few minutes before the crash, the co-pilot went to the bathroom, leaving the pilot, Herminio dos Santos Fernandes, alone in the cockpit.
It was then that the altitude selector was manually altered three times, bringing the plane’s altitude down from 38,000 feet to 592 feet. This happens to be below ground level at Bwambata. The throttle control wasset to idling, but the velocity selector was operated manually several
times, to bring the speed up to the Embraer’s VMO (Maximum Operating
Velocity).
The airbrake parameters showed that the aerodynamic resistance plates on the wings were deployed and held in that position to the end of the
recording, again indicating manual operation. These actions set off low and high intensity alarm signals which can be heard on the recording. Also plainly audible is repeated banging on the cockpit door. The report does not say who was banging, but presumably the co-pilot was trying enter the cockpit, but found the door locked against him.
Abreu said all these operations required detailed knowledge of the plane’s controls, and showed a clear intention to crash the aircraft.
He said it is not known why the pilot behaved in this way, and the investigations are continuing.
