AIB reports: Air Peace declared ‘May Day’ ,ILS erratic in Max Air incident

 

 

 The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) has released two preliminary reports on serious incidents involving aircraft owned and operated by Air Peace Limited and Max Air.

 

The Air Peace Boeing 737-500 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BUJ was en-route Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri on November 5th, 2019 when the incident occurred at about 23,000 feet above Mean Sea Level (FL230).

 

The report stated that the flight crew identified the occurrence as ‘severe engine damage’ and in response, carried out memory items before consulting the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH).

 

According to the first officer, who was the PF at the time, “At about 23,000 ft, I heard a loud bang and the automation went off and the airplane veered a little to the right. The second bang came few seconds after the first and we quickly glanced at the primary engine instrument panel and noticed that N2 indication was zero, N1 was also rapidly decreasing and was at about 30% while we were climbing.”

 

The report stated that the Captain took control of the aircraft and requested that the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) be started, adding that at 07:46:32 h, the crew declared ‘MAYDAY’ (emergency) to Air Traffic Control (ATC), requesting to stop climbing and make an air return to Lagos which was granted.

 

Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.

It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organizations such as firefighters, police forces, and transportation organizations also use the term.

Convention requires the word be repeated three times in a row during the initial emergency declaration (“Mayday mayday mayday”) to prevent it being mistaken for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual mayday call from a message about a mayday call.

 

The ATC according to AIB report cleared the aircraft to descend to FL220 and proceed to Lagos. The Captain briefed the passengers about the situation while the First Officer notified the Airline’s OCC.

 

“At 07:48:44 h, ACC further cleared the aircraft to descend to FL160, proceed direct to Lagos, to contact Approach Control and was acknowledged by the crew. At 07:49:57 h, when the aircraft was in contact with Approach Control, the crew downgraded the emergency declaration to a ‘PAN PAN PAN’. They also requested to use runway 18R for landing”.

 

“At 07:50:15 h, Approach Control cleared the aircraft as follows: “APK7004 Identity at 62 NMS. East Lagos expect radar vector for RNAV approach runway 18R or      VOR/DME approach for runway 18R Descend FL 50”.

 

“At 07:50:33 h, the crew responded as follows: “Descending FL50. We have an emergency. We cannot do a VOR approach”.

 

“Approach Control cleared the aircraft to fly direct to Lagos and further descended it to 2,200 ft before being transferred to the Control Tower at 8NM to touchdown. At 08:03:07 h, the aircraft was in contact with Control Tower and was cleared to land. At 08:06:47 h, the aircraft landed safely on runway 18R”.

 

“It was escorted by all waiting emergency vehicles as it taxied on its own power to the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) apron where it parked and passengers were disembarked with no injury”.

 

For Max Air’s incident that occurred in Minna, Niger State which occurred at the Minna International Airport on September 7, 2019,

 

 

The captain stated that during the final approach while passing 2000 ft, the Instrument Landing System (ILS) signal was erratic on glideslope and localizer, stressing that at that point, the autopilot was disengaged and aircraft was hand flown on visual cues to landing.

 

He further reported that, at touchdown the aircraft drifted slightly right of centerline and while making correction to bring the aircraft to the centerline it over banked.

 

As a result, the number one engine impacted was dragged along the runway surface, causing damage to the engine cowl and thrust reverser (T/R) cowls.

 

During the post incident witness interview, the captain mentioned that at a point before 20 NM he complained to Minna Tower about the possibility of the presence of birds’ activities at Minna airport.

 

AIB further stated that at that point, the autopilot was disengaged and aircraft was hand flown on visual cues to landing.

 

He further reported that, at touchdown the aircraft drifted slightly right of centerline and while making correction to bring the aircraft to the centerline it over banked.

 

As a result, the number one engine impacted was dragged along the runway surface, causing damage to the engine cowl and thrust reverser (T/R) cowls. The PM corroborated this in his statement.

 

Spokesman for AIB, Tunji Oketunbi said preliminary reports are not the final reports as they only contain details of the initial facts, discussions and findings surrounding the occurrences; which include information gathered from witness statements, flight recorders, Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) Data, Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) data, and preliminary inspection of the accident sites and the wreckages.

 

He reiterated that investigation on this occurrence is still ongoing and final report on the incident will be released at the conclusion of the investigation.

 

 

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