Poor Weather, Pilot Cause of Recent Starbow Crash – Report

The five-member committee set up to investigate the recent Starbow crash has blamed the incident on poor weather and the pilot.

On Saturday November 25, 2017 a Starbow Airline aircraft on a flight from Accra to Kumasi overshot the runaway at Kotoka International Airport as it attempted a takeoff.

The plane, with 63 passengers and five crew members, ended up  fencing around the airport, leaving dozens of passengers traumatized. Starbow following the crash, suspended operation.

Speaking in Parliament Tuesday, Minister for Aviation Cecilia Dapaah revealed the local airline has been ordered to review its operational procedures and retrain its crew.

She said during the kick off run,  the airline gradually drifted off the runway without the crew appreciating it, as a result of the severity of the weather.

In the process, she said the captain seat inadvertently moved rearward which made the captain transfer control of the aircraft to the co-pilot.

“At this point, the aircraft was virtually off the runway,” she told the House.

The crew, she said, initiated action to bring the aircraft to a stop but did not follow the correct procedures.

“Most importantly, they did not select best track which would have slowed down the aircraft much faster. There was also lack of adequate coordination among the crew during the flight,” she said.

The preliminary findings based on the investigations carried out, she told the lawmakers, are “loss of situational awareness from the part of the cockpit crew leading to runway excursion and failure by the crew to execute correct procedures in aborting the takeoff.”

The findings thus direct Starbow to review its professional portfolio and ensure it hires adequate, qualified operational personnel. It should also arrange a retraining of its crew to include cockpit resource management and appropriate takeoff procedures.

It should further ensure that the air-worthiness directive number 2016—0256 is effected on all subsequent ATRs before they are added to their fleet.

Source: Starrfmonline