Today, families, the aviation community in particular and the nation at large will be engrossed in sober reflections over a tragedy that befell them exactly a year ago–the Sosoliso air mishap at the Port Harcourt Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State. That was on that black Saturday afternoon of December 10, 2005.
The aircraft, a DC-9-32 with registration number 5N-BFD on a scheduled flight, which was to have left at 10 am, was delayed until 1.26pm when it took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
In the belly of the massive plane were 108 passengers and crew. Majority of the occupants (60) were students of Jesuit Loyola College in Abuja who were already on Christmas vacation and were heading home to celebrate the yuletide with beloved family members and friends.
Before the aircraft (otherwise known as Flight 1145) left the Abuja Airport, nothing within the environment suggested any evil foreboding. It had a normal take off and the cockpit and cabin crew went about their routine professional responsibilities while it cruised on flight level (FL240).
According to the report of the crash published on October 19, 2006 by the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB), at 1.41pm, the pilot contacted the approach controller in Port Harcourt who gave the pilot an in-bound clearance for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to runway 21.
At 2pm, the crew again reportedly asked the approach controller whether it was raining at the Port Harcourt Airport. The response was negative.
At 14.05, the aircraft was cleared to land on runway 21 with the controller advising the crew that the runway surface was slightly wet.
On final approach, the flight encountered adverse weather with wind speed and direction suddenly changing significantly.
Visibility was also reducing due to thunderstorm in the airport vicinity. The crew continued their descent until the tail section of the aircraft contacted the grass area between runway 21 and a taxiway, 70 metres to the left of the runway edge and 540 metres from the runway threshold.
Some 60 metres further, the rear fuselage impacted on the exposed concrete drainage culvert at the runway. One of the aircraft’s engines was sheared off and the rear air stair broke away from the fuselage.
The aircraft disintegrated and caught fire, skidding for 790 metres. The cockpit section with the forward fuselage went a further 330 metres from the rest of the wreckage trail on the taxiway, giving a total wreckage distance of 1120 metres.
Already, acquaintances, family members, relatives, friends and well wishers of those on board the ill-fated aircraft were at the airport waiting to receive their loved ones into a warm embrace. Little did they know that tragedy was lurking around and that those in the bowel of the aircraft, who were already at the destination, would not make it alive.
And so the sweet expectations and euphoria of mothers, husbands, wives, friends and associates who had thronged the airport to receive dear ones turned into deep sorrow.
Able-bodied men, women and children roasted in the ferocious inferno that erupted from the crashed plane.
People watched helplessly with screams of agony from the trapped victims who were desperately beckoning for rescue. Fire fighters and search and rescue professionals stationed at the airport for emergency situations like that could barely rise to the occasion. Virtually, all those who were eventually pulled out of the wreckage after what looked like eternity, were no in a condition to live.
Particularly traumatising were the parents and well wishers of the Jesuit Loyola College who had found their way to the epicentre of the tragedy and watched first hand while their beloved offspring suffer the pangs of death.
Rankled hearts gave way to uncontrollable wailing. Hospitals and morgues in the oil-rich city witnessed an unprecedented surge in both wounded and burnt corpses.
All but three of the 108 people on board perished, including a popular motivational preacher, Pastor (Mrs) Bimbo Odukoya. Ironically one of the lucky survivors was Miss Bunmi Amusan, a personal assistant to Odukoya, whose wedding date was around the corner before crash.
Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Professor Thom-pson Okujagu; University of Abuja Registrar, Mrs. U.O. Ekefre and Arch. Roland Cookey-Gam, the consultant who supervised the construction of Rivers State Gover-nment House, were among the deceased.
Of the three survivors, one died in a South African hospital leaving only Bunmi Amusan (now married) and little Miss Okwuchi Ikechi who is billed for plastic surgery in the United States of America soon.
Some families lost two children to the crash, the worst hit were the Ilabors who lost their only three children.
However, a year has passed. Yet, the Sosoliso air mishap did not mark the end of such tragic crashes. Indeed, there were been about three others after it, the latest being the October 29, 2006 ADC crash in Abuja which claimed another 96 lives.
However, while the first anniversary of the Sosoliso crash was approaching (exactly November 17, 2006), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) clamped down on the airline, suspending its operating licence. The action, NCAA, disclosed, was precipitated by the inability of the airline to pay full compensation to families of the crash victims.
In fact, the Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has vowed that unless Sosoliso fulfils its obligation vi-a-vis compensation, it would remain grounded.
A visit by the aggrieved parents to the new Aviation Minister was all it took for the minister to bare his fangs.
The visit was recorded and is now being syndicated among television stations and aired at prime periods.
Analysts believe that the parents of the 60 gifted students of Loyola or anybody who lost dear ones in the crash have every justification to be aggrieved, moreso when they believe that those who are supposed to mitigate or salve their sorrow have failed.
The minister not only seized the opportunity to condemn the airline but chided and excoriated top officials of the ministry for failing in their duty during the crash.
Although, the accident report has blamed wind shear for the mishap without affirming that the ill-fated aircraft was faulty before the crash.
The current position of the minister is already sending jitters down the spines of operators.
However, Sosoliso had in paid advertorials published at the weekend stated that: “Much as there is no material compensation to make up for even a single soul, the management of Sosoliso Airlines began to pay compensation to families of the victims the same month the incident occurred; while awaiting the processing of the insurance papers, we offered each family one million naira for burial expenses. A good number of families have since been paid fully.”
“The full payment was in spite of the refusal of our former technical partner, JAT airline of Yugoslavia, which owned the aircraft that crashed, to honour its insurance obligations to us and the passengers. The ill-fated airliner was the only plane in our fleet of five which was not owned by us.
“It must be stated categorically that NICON Insurance which provided the local component of the insurance cover, has since met its obligation. The problem we have is with JAT, and the failure to live up to its responsibility is now the subject of litigation in London.
“Sosoliso has gone out of its way to raise funds to pay considerable sums to victims’ families. The payment has, however, not been without difficulties, including family complications and complexities.There are family members in court with themselves over compensation claims. The greatest challenge we have faced has been with the Port Harcourt branch of the parents Association of Loyola Jesuit College. “Shortly after the December 10 incident when we were still processing our insurance papers, we were asked to pay 30 billion naira within 30 days to its members whose lovely children perished or face court action. True to its word, the Association sued Sosoliso Airlines, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Government, demanding 30 billion naira.
“Like us, the Federal Government wishes the matter to be resolved amicably. The Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice has taken commendable steps in this direction. Three meetings to arrive at an out-of-court settlement called at the instance of the Federal Ministry of justice have been held, the latest having taken place on November 26, 2006, and another one will be held next December 7”, the advertorial added.
THISDAY gathered that the last meeting held on December 7 and presided by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Bayo Ojo , has already resolved the matter with Sosoliso being asked to work towards paying the families over a period of time.
It is hoped that the path of peace being taken by the Federal Government will rather than inflame passions augur well for everybody. If the truth is to be told, the government is also culpable in the Sosoliso crash.
Several accidents, including those of Bellview on October 22, 2005; the Sosoliso crash and more recently, that of ADC have, been traced to the onslaught of wind shear.
Stakeholders, including Group Capt. John Obakpoplor who is the National President of Aviation Round Table (ART) have warned that unless Doppler Weather Radar equipment are installed at the nation’s airports, we may not see an end to air disasters.
Operators in the sector areas that promote air safety should pre-occupy the minister’s attention.
As a reminder to the minister, the search and rescue machinery in the country is nothing to write home about. The ADC crash is another pointer to the failure in this direction.
In a recent workshop, the Director General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren had said of the Sosoliso accident:
“The weakness in our airport emergency response was badly exposed in the second accident that occurred right on the airport premises in Port Harcourt. The fire -fighting and rescue efforts, emergency medical attention, casualties distribution, communication and overall co-ordination of response to the emergency were far below expectation. Sadly enough, search and rescue efforts ended in a dead recovery.
“Similar accidents all over the world have had appreciable level of success in rescuing passengers. In the Air France Airbus A330 accident in Canada, all the over 300 passengers were safely evacuated and rescued within 90 seconds before the aircraft burnt down completely.
“The new Airbus A380 with over 800 passengers has demonstrated evacuation in 90 seconds of all the passengers, with only half of its exit doors usable. Planning, preparedness and regular mock exercises are mandatory tools for timely and appropriate airport emergency response,” he said.
These words are food for though for the incumbent minister and all stakeholders
Dec102006