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| Captain Tito Omaghomi
Captain Tito Omaghomi, a retired pilot with defunct Nigerian Airways and National President of Concerned Aviation Professionals, CAP, on Thursday blamed the ill-fated Dana aircraft crash on June 3, in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, on the crew members.
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Omaghomi told a Lagos coroner investigating the cause of the death of victims aboard the ill-fated airline that the negligence of the flight crew, who he said did not adhere to required emergency guidelines led to the loss.
Omaghomi, who is also addressed as ‘Captain Tito’ said his opinion on the preliminary report of the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, was that the pilot and his crew failed to adhere to necessary checklists to prevent the crash.The witness, who said he had more than 32 years flying experience as a pilot, told the coroner Judge, Mr. Oyetade Komolafe, that he noted from the report that the crew neglected what they were to do when there was an emergency..
Led by Mr. Femi Falana, Omaghomi, who said he was a pilot of the defunct Nigerian Airways, explained that if the crew had paid attention to detail on the checklist the accident could have been avoided.
He said: “Checklist items are actions you take in the operations of a plane.”
The witness, who said he retired from flying commercial planes in 1993, said his opinion of the AIB’ s report was that “it was a disorganised cockpit” and that “it became a flight that nobody had control over.”
He noted from his observations, “the pilot did not call for help when he should have done, that is at the time when the plane had already lost two engines.”
He observed that the pilot of the ill-fated plane had put in 120 hours of flight within 14 days, which was against the rules that no pilot flies for more than 100 hours in a month, describing that action as “illegal”.
On air accidents in the country, Omaghomi noted that between 1965 and 2003, there were only 17 accidents, but lamented there had been almost 21 air-crashes from 2003 till date.
An Aviation Operations Manager with Total Nigeria Plc, Daniel Akpokoje, also testified that Dana Air bought fuel from his company last November.
He said several checks were conducted on fuel supplied to aircraft to ensure that there were no sediments or water mixed with it.
Further hearings of the court has been adjourned till August 13 to consider testimonies of relatives, who the court observed were making efforts to collect the remains of their loved ones who died in the crash.
Source: Vanguard Online
Written by Adewunmi Akinpelu
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