Wed, Jan 01, 2014
Challenges Assertion That The Pilot Flew The E190 Into The Ground On Purpose
An aviation accident investigator in Mozambique has challenged the official preliminary report from an accident November 29 that asserts the pilot flew a Mozambique Airlines (LAM) E190 into the ground to commit suicide.
The accident in the Bwabwata National Park in northern Namibia fatally injured all 33 people on board the airplane.
The investigator is Antonil Alves Gomes. He was interviewed recently on the African independent television station STV, according to the website AllAfrica.com. He said nothing proves that the captain of the airplane intended to commit suicide despite the claim in the preliminary report that his action showed a "clear intention" to crash the plane.
Gomes said that the captain followed procedures in Embraer's manual for the airplane in setting the altitude selector, throttle, airbrake, and velocity selector consistent with maneuvers specified for an emergency descent. "Everything that the pilot did coincides exactly with what is in the manual." he said, adding that the "real question" is why the emergency descent was necessary.
Gomes admits that it is against published procedures to begin such an emergency descent when both pilots are not in the cockpit, and the first officer on the flight was absent when the descent began.
The report also mentions that a sound like someone banging on the cockpit door was heard on the CVR, but Gomes said there are ways to open the door from the outside if it is necessary. He said it seemed to him that the members of the Commission of Inquiry had not read the manual for the airplane.
(E190 pictured in file photo)
More News
Chaff Thin, narrow metallic reflectors of various lengths and frequency responses, used to reflect radar energy. These reflectors, when dropped from aircraft and allowed to drift d>[...]
“Today, XB-1 took flight in the same hallowed airspace where the Bell X-1 first broke the sound barrier in 1947. I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding>[...]
“Teaming up with the EAA and Berlin Express for this event in Cincinnati will give warbird fans a unique opportunity to see the aircraft that helped defend freedom and gave t>[...]
Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]
Aero Linx: The Nebraska Aeronautics Commission The Nebraska Aeronautics Commission was created by the 1935 Legislature to oversee the development of aviation in the state. The Comm>[...]