‘Negligence’ Caused Starbow Accident

Aviation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has revealed that a potential negligence on the part of the crew caused Starbow Airlines’ accident at the Kotoka International Airport on November, 25, 2017.

Answering questions on the floor of Parliament yesterday, the Minister said “Based on the investigation carried, the following were established as the causes of the accident; i. Loss of situational awareness on the part of the cockpit crew, leading to runway excursion, ii. Failure by the crew to execute the correct procedures in aborting the take-off”.

Starbow Airlines has halted its operations since November last year, following a crash involving one of its aircrafts at the Kotoka International Airport prompting the Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza to file an urgent question on what caused the unfortunate crash of a Starbow plane which resulted in five minor injuries.

The Aviation Minister stated that given the sequence of events leading to the accident and the preliminary findings by the Committee, her Ministry in collaboration with stakeholders have instituted some mitigating measures to make air transport safe for all travelers in the future.

Measures

These measures among others include; Ghana Airport Company Limited to review its Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) and responses of all first respondents, management of Air Traffic Control at GCAA to ensure all staff are familiar with all requirements of the accident and incident procedures contained in existing SOPs.

The rest are: Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to establish a standing preliminary investigation team with approved procedures which will include the authority to request medical and toxicology tests.

Abena Dapaah said Starbow will review its operational control and ensure it hires adequate qualified operational personnel, adding “Starbow to arrange a re-training of its crew to include Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) and aborted take-off procedures. They are also to ensure that the Airworthiness Directive (AD) No.2016-0256 is effected on all subsequent ATRs before they are added to their fleet”.

The Minister advised pilots to exercise extra caution when taking off in adverse weather conditions.

Starbow Resumes Mid-Year

Aviation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah subsequently told journalists in an interview at Parliament House that official of Starbow have given indications that they will resume operations in the middle of the year.

“Yes, they are saying they will come back, mid-year” she stated.

By: Christian Kpesese/ thePublisher