Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122

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Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122
Summary
Date 2008-04-15 14:45 UTC
Type Engine failure at takeoff and runway overrun into city
Site Goma International Airport, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Passengers 86
Crew 8
Injuries 111 (40 passengers, 71 on ground)
Fatalities 40 (incl. 3 passengers)
Survivors 83 passengers, 8 crew
Aircraft type McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51
Operator Hewa Bora Airways
Tail number 9Q-CHN
Flight origin Goma International Airport
Stopover Kisangani
Destination Kinshasa

On 15 April 2008, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122[1], a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 plane crashed into a residential and market area of Goma of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - immediately south of Goma International Airport.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Background

The eastern part of the DRC has been war-torn for decades, as various factions seek control of mineral resources. Goma is a center for the air shipping of cassiterite (tin oxide ore) from Nord-Kivu.

The European Union has placed all DRC airlines on its List of airlines banned in the EU. HBA had held a single exemption for a single Boeing 767-266ER tail number 9Q-CJD, construction number 193H-1209, but that too had been removed on 11 April 2008. Very similar crashes in the DRC the previous October in the capital, Kinshasa and in 1996 also came down in residential or market areas. Because the DRC has so little passable roadway, most freight is moved by air[4] and markets are common near airstrips.

HBA operates a number of different aircraft types, none of them modern. This aircraft was 31 years old.[5]

Goma is on the volcanically active Great African Rift Valley. One volcano, Nyiragongo, is so close that its January 2002 eruption destroyed the north end of runway 18/36, leaving just 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) for aircraft operations.[6] The 1,995-metre (6,545 ft) runway is, however, adequate for the DC-9, which was designed to operate off shorter runways.[7] Goma International is at 1,551 metres (5,089 ft) elevation, and the mid-afternoon temperature is about 22 °C (72 °F). These factors would reduce the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) on the 1995 metre runway from 55 tonnes (121,000 lb) to less than 45 tonnes (99,000 lb).[8] Another report asserts that only 1600 to 1800 m of the runway was usable.[9] If the lower of these figures were correct, then the corresponding MTOW would be reduced another 3 tonnes (7,000 lb).

[edit] Crash

The aircraft was departing Goma bound for Kisangani. According to the director of the RVA, the number one engine caught fire after three hundred meters. The fire developed into an uncontained engine failure.[10] The aircraft subsequently overran the runway and crashed at 14:30 local time (12:30 UTC), impacting concrete homes, shops and market stalls. The crash site was located at the Birere market on l’avenue du 20 mai, just beyond the south end of runway 18.[11] Video taken at the crash site shows the aircraft's thrust reversers in the deployed position.[12]

[edit] Casualties

Initial reports indicated that the Hewa Bora Airways flight had sixty to seventy passengers aboard[13] and casualty reports varied.[13][14][4] Authorities concluded that in the accident, those killed were mainly ground casualties and one registered passenger on the plane died.[15]

The passenger manifest was first said to have "around 100 people",[16] but in the DRC it is common practice to carry extra passengers and cargo beyond the manifest. Eventually a manifest was provided to the US embassy listing 79 passengers and five crew. The entire crew is reported to have escaped the aircraft.[15]

Three days after the crash, 42 dead had been found and the search for the missing was still continuing.[17]

Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Central Africa Ignatios was among the survivors of the crash. [18] Another non-Congolese survivor was an Alcatel engineer named Selami Mordeniz. [19]

The fourth day more remains were recovered bringing the toll to 44, while 13 were still missing and 60 were rescued.[20][21] An additional find, coupled with two deaths in hospital, brought the toll to 47 as of April 19.[22]

The Heal Africa clinic treated many of the injured.[23]

The aid group Médecins Sans Frontières announced that one of its workers was among those missing after 48 hours.[24]

[edit] Response

The airport had no functioning firefighting equipment.[25] The initial crash response involved several international agencies present in Goma, including several organisations of the United Nations (MONUC, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, World Health Organization) and also Médecins Sans Frontières France and the International Red Cross [26]. Members of the 6th Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry, Indian Army, who were posted there as part of the North Kivu Brigade of the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC), swung into action to effect a rescue of 6 survivors and retrieve 18 bodies. Indian Army personnel were also involved in initial crowd control and preventing the fire that arose from spreading to thickly populated areas nearby. [27] Both flight recorders were recovered.[28]

One Kinshasa paper, Le phare, reports that airports throughout the country are still using fifty year old infrastructure from the Belgian colonial era.[29] Two days after the crash, the DRC government committed to making the runway repairs neglected since January 2002.[6][30] A local human rights organization laid the blame on the DRC government:

“ La responsabilité du crash d’un DC 9 de la compagnie Hewa Bora Airways le 15 avril dernier à Goma est d’abord imputable au gouvernement congolais, selon le Renadhoc, Réseau national des organisations non gouvernementales de droits de l’homme en RDC.
(The responsibility of the crash of a Hewa Bora Airways DC 9 on 15 April in Goma is primarily attributable to the Congolese government, according to Renadhoc, the National Network of Non-Governmental Human Rights Organisations in the DRC.)
-Radio Okapi 2008-04-21		 ”

[edit] Investigation

As country of manufacture, the US is represented on the investigation by the NTSB.[31]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.jacdec.de/info/2008-04-15_9Q-CHN.pdf
  2. ^ Barber, Kari (2008-04-15). "More Than 70 Killed in Eastern DRC Plane Crash", VOANews.com (Dakar), Voice of America. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  3. ^ Schwarz, Naomi (2008-04-15). "Plane crash in Congo kills at least 33", Reuters Africa, Reuters. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  4. ^ a b Abawi, Atia (2008-04-15). "Plane crashes into African marketplace", CNN.com, CNN. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  5. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (2008-04-15). "Hewa Bora DC-9 crashes in Congolese town". Flight. Reed Business Information. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  6. ^ a b "In pictures: Volcano wreaks havoc", BBC News. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.  "Aéroport de Goma, le gouvernement s’engage à réhabiliter la piste d’atterrissage" (in French), Radio Okapi (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  7. ^ "DC-9 Family". Boeing. Retrieved on 2008-04-18.
  8. ^ "Section 3.0 Airplane Performance" (PDF). DC-9 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning Rev F. Boeing (May 1984). Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
  9. ^ "Crash de Goma: Mwando Nsimba très fâché!" (in French), Le Phare RDC (2008-04-21). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  10. ^ "RVA : « après 300 mètres, le moteur numéro 1 a pris feu, donc, il y avait une explosion ! »" (in French), Radio Okapi (2008-04-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  11. ^ "Goma : ville moitié paralysée, 34 morts et plus d'une centaine de blessés, dernier bilan provisoire du crash" (in French), Radio Okapi (2008-04-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  12. ^ iReport : CNN video taken shortly after the crash. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
  13. ^ a b "Dozens Dead After Congo Plane Crash", Sky News (2008-04-15). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  14. ^ "Congolese plane crashes into market town", International Herald Tribune (Paris), The New York Times Company (2008-04-15). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  15. ^ a b "20 missing after Congo plane crash", CNN (2008-04-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  16. ^ Zajtman, Arnaud (2008-04-16). "Death toll unclear after plane crashes in Goma", France 24. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  17. ^ "Goma: 72 heures après le crash, la recherche des corps se poursuit" (in French), Radio Okapi (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  18. ^ Katsikas, N. "Metropolitan Ignatios survives air crash in Congo" (in English), Athens News Agency. Retrieved on 2008-04-16. 
  19. ^ Şeref, Dinçer (2008-04-20). "Ölülerin arasından sürünerek çıktım" (in Turkish), Milliyet. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 
  20. ^ Associated Press (2008-04-17). "Toll from Congo plane crash rises to 44", International Herald Tribune (Paris), The New York Times Company. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  21. ^ "Crash de Goma: 44 morts, 60 passagers rescapés, 13 disparus" (in French), Radio Okapi (2008-04-18). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  22. ^ "DRC plane crash toll rises to 47", Relief Web (2008-04-19). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  23. ^ Kambale, Albert (2008-04-16). "Rescuers scour debris of DR Congo plane crash which killed 40", France24. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  24. ^ "MSF colleague disappears in Goma plane crash.", Médecins Sans Frontières (2008-04-18). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  25. ^ "A part Ndjili et Loano, nos aéroports dépourvus de services anti incendie" (in French), Le Phare RDC (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  26. ^ Young, Eoin (2008-04-16). "MONUC expresses its sympathy to the Goma air tragedy victims", MONUC. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  27. ^ "Indian Army soldiers rescue Congo crash victims", Zeenews (2008-04-18). Retrieved on 2008-04-28.  - not a wp:RS
  28. ^ Kaminski-Morrow, David (2008-04-17). "Flight recorders recovered from crashed Hewa Bora Airways DC-9", Flight, Reed Business Information. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  29. ^ Kimpozo Mayala, Jacques (2008-04-17). "RDC: des aéroports d’une autre époque" (in French), Le Phare RDC. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  30. ^ "Bousculade pour le deuil de Birere" (in French), Le Phare RDC (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  31. ^ "Factual Report - Aviation" National Transportation Safety Board, NTSBID: DCA08RA050

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewa_Bora_Airways_Flight_122"
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