2011 Moremi Air Cessna 208 crash

Air accident in Botswana November 2017 Cessna 208 landing in Toronto.jpg A Cessna 208 Caravan similar to the one involved Accident 2011 10 14 y Engine failure on take-off Near Xakanaka camp, Botswana -19.200 23.427 type:event_region:BW inline,title Cessna 208B Grand Caravan Moremi Air A2-AKD Maun Airport, Maun, Botswana Xakanaka Camp, Botswana Pom Pom Camp, Botswana Maun Airport 12 11 1 8 4 4 On 14 October 2011, a Cessna 208 Caravan turboprop passenger aircraft operated by Moremi Air on a domestic flight from Xakanaka Camp to Maun, Botswana, crashed and caught fire shortly after take-off, killing eight of the twelve people on board.Botswana air crash kills European tourists https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15343061 2 April 2019 BBC News 17 October 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120107051737/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15343061 7 January 2012 live The following investigation concluded that the aircraft suffered a catastrophic engine failure on take-off, compounded by environmental hazards at Xakanaka, which led to the plane hitting trees and crashing to the ground.Moremi Air Partly Blamed For Crash http://www.ngamitimes.com/ The Ngami Times 655 21 June 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20130622004959/http://www.ngamitimes.com/ 22 June 2013 dead History of the flight The aircraft had departed from Maun Airport on the morning of 14 October for a series of flight sectors in the Okavango Delta that took it to Kasane Airport. After refuelling there, at 11:50 eleven passengers boarded the aircraft. The next flight would have taken the Cessna aircraft to Pom Pom Camp, but it was decided to stop at Xakanaxa first to drop off two passengers. No flight plan was filed for the diversion to Xakanaxa, nor was the airline's base informed. At Xakanaxa, the pilot was informed that he was required to pick up another two passengers bound for Maun. After some hesitation, the pilot agreed to take the passengers, departing from Xakanaxa with eleven passengers, despite company procedures restricting the maximum number of passengers for operations from that airfield to ten. The Grand Caravan aircraft took off from Xakanaka Airstrip at 13:55. Almost immediately after take-off, the engine lost power and the aircraft collided with trees. It then crashed nose first approximately 600 metres from the airfield, with an intense fire quickly engulfing the wreckage, burning beyond recognition the bodies of six passengers and the pilot. A rescue team was flown in and found the wreckage still ablaze. An eighth occupant was taken to hospital but later died. Identification of the victims was only possible through DNA testing.Keakabetse Boniface Seven tourists die in plane crash http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=791&dir=2011/October/Monday17 The Monitor 20 July 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120423131918/http://mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=791&dir=2011%2FOctober%2FMonday17 23 April 2012 dead dmy-all Aircraft The airplane involved was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, a single-engine turboprop utility aircraft capable of carrying thirteen passengers plus crew. It was fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine. It held Botswanan registration A2-AKD, and had been manufactured in 1996.Accident Description http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20111014-0 26 November 2011 Aviation Safety Network 14 October 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20120702194015/http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20111014-0 2012-07-02 live Passengers and crew The Grand Caravan was crewed by a single pilot and was carrying eleven passengers. The passengers were mainly French and Swiss tourists heading for a safari lodge, but also included two Botswanan officials from the country's Department of Road Transport, who both survived. Some of the Swiss passengers were initially misidentified as Swedish.'No Swede died in plane crash' https://www.mmegi.bw/news/no-swede-died-in-plane-crash/news The Monitor 19 October 2011 The pilot was Moremi Air's general manager, and was described as the company's "most seasoned pilot" with over 12,000 flight hours.Laing Aislinn British pilot who died in Botswana air crash named https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/botswana/8833010/British-pilot-who-died-in-Botswana-air-crash-named.html The Telegraph 20 July 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20150925172902/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/botswana/8833010/British-pilot-who-died-in-Botswana-air-crash-named.html 25 September 2015 live NationalityPassengersCrewFatalitiesFrance402United Kingdom112Switzerland404Botswana200Total1118 Investigation The investigation into the crash was carried out by the Directorate of Accident Investigation (DAI) of the Botswanan Ministry of Transport and Communications. Its results were published in June 2013." AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT A2 AKD in the Delta" . Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana. 19 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222134036/http://www.caab.co.bw/caab-news-details.php?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&width=700&tid=402&type=news February 22, 2014 The main cause of the accident was found to be "engine failure resulting from the failure of the Compressor Turbine Blades."In a free-turbine engine such as the PT6A, the compressor turbine is the turbine that drives the compressor, as opposed to the power turbine, which is separate and drives the propeller. Turbine blades were found to be affected by "sulphidation corrosion", although it could not be established whether that was the root cause of the failure, leaving open the possibility that material failure or inappropriate engine operation may have played a role. The report was also very critical of Moremi Air's management style and training practices, concluding that the company's safety culture "had eroded to the extent that safety was being compromised." Other contributing factors cited were the presence of tall trees in the vicinity of the runway at Xakanaxa, the decision to embark more passengers than the maximum allowed for operations at that airfield, poor supervision of operators and airfields by the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB), and the engine manufacturer's failure to disseminate "critical maintenance information" among operators. The DAI made several safety recommendations to the CAAB calling for stricter supervision of airline and airfield operators, and to Cessna, the aircraft manufacturer, to ensure that the aircraft data acquisition system (ADAS) is made to resist fire damage. Notes References Aviation Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 2011 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Cessna 208 Caravan Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Botswana Category:2011 in Botswana Category:October 2011 in Africa Category:2011 disasters in Africa