One of the survivors of the crash of Embraer 120 twin prop aircraft belonging to Associated Airlines on 3rd October 2013 has died.
The survivor’s death during the weekend brings the total number of deaths from the air mishap to 14.
Confirming the development, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris said there are six other survivors, one of who is in a critical state after undergoing a surgical operation.
Idris added that dental ex-rays have been completed and are ready for matching, while autopsies have been concluded just like samples have already been collected for DNA tests.
Meanwhile, Huhuonline.com can reveal that the crash might have been avoided had the airline attended to a report of a staff in 2009 that showed the extent of fraud involved in the maintenance of aircraft.
Information available to Huhuonline.com reveal that Associated Aviation Limited, owners of the airline, had been reducing maintenance expense on the 23-year-old aircraft for years; and it was last flown on 30th August, more than a month before the crash.
The practice is for aviation officials to scheme with airline owners, receiving bribes in exchange for overlooking airline maintenance flaws. It would be recalled that in 2012, a whistleblower-insider in the then Air Nigeria had to cry out for the aviation authorities to revoke the airline’s license, which was then restored without explanation.
Writing on www.ripoff.com, a former staff of the airline said that Associated has advertised its aircraft for sale and that the airplanes can only be described as dangerous and requires that a buyer beware notice be posted.
“Anyone looking at these aircrafts must underline the need to examine the aircraft logbooks with a magnifying glass. The records that exist are fraudulent at the least,” the staff wrote.
“Engines: the crew never kept the records required by the Engineers for oil and other analysis. As a result, the true state of the Engines is unknown. Pratt and Whitney has the engines on a program but had no records from the airline to ensure the integrity of the Engines. At the present time, the program has also been cancelled for failure to make payments.
“Maintenance: As a former Engineer and former Staff, now employed by a better airline, I will be first to tell you that our supervisors insisted on the use of none manufacturer or OEM parts obtained from local electronic stores. Very little records were kept, the entire LLP records are a fabrication; all these were possible because the local Civil Aviation Authority looked the other way.
“Required x-rays were never performed. Matters that should have been looked into were overlooked. The aircraft needed rigging. If you want confirmation talk to a former pilot of the Company that now works for Capital Airlines.”
The staff criticised former MD and partner, Tunde Oremule, for lacking regard for the lives of his customers, his employees, and the law, saying that whenever anyone insisted on doing the right thing, he harassed and intimidated the staff.
“If only passengers could see the maintenance records! The regulators have but they pay lip service to safety,” he said. “Bottom line, buyer beware!”
The Associated Airlines charter flight took off at about 9:30 am from the domestic terminal of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport with 20 people aboard but crash-landed by the Sahara Group building metres away from the access gate of the airport, killing 16 of the 20 people aboard.
