This archive report was first published on 22 December 2019.
Miraa Plane Crash in Utawala: A Tale of Reckless Pilot and Systemic Failures ¶
On July 2, 2014, a Fokker B.B F27 Mark 050 plane, operated by Skyward International Aviation, crashed in Utawala, Nairobi, killing everyone on board. The plane was carrying a cargo of miraa worth millions of shillings, destined for Aden Adee International Airport in Mogadishu.
The investigation into the crash revealed a series of systemic failures and reckless decisions by the pilot, Captain Harrison Okang'a. The plane had been experiencing technical problems, including a faulty engine, but the pilot had chosen to ignore the warning signs and proceed with the flight.
According to the final report, the plane had been experiencing a triple chime and two flashing red Master Warning Lights, indicating a possible engine problem, during a previous flight from Wilson Airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. However, the pilot had not recorded the anomaly in the log book, and the maintenance action taken was not listed.
On the day of the crash, the pilot, Captain Okang'a, and a flight officer, Sayid Abdi, boarded the plane without knowing about the technical problem. The plane had been bought from an operator in the Netherlands and had been ferried to Kenya in early May 2014 by its sixth owner.
The investigation also found that the plane was overloaded with miraa, with evidence suggesting that it might have been operating outside weight limitations at the time of the accident. The load sheets showed that the maximum weight on board never exceeded 5 tonnes, but the investigators found that the system used by the operator for documenting the cargo and aircraft weights was via non-serialised load sheets, making it difficult to determine the actual cargo weight loaded on each aircraft.
The investigators also found that the system used by the warehouse agent, where the miraa was stored, was not descriptive enough to determine the actual cargo weight loaded on each aircraft. Although three planes left with miraa that night, only two Air Way Bills were issued, one for 5.3 tonnes and the other for 7.9 tonnes.
The plane had been allowed to use runway 06 and the flight was cleared to take off at 4.15am. However, after 16 seconds of the initial engine acceleration, the first of a series of three chimes – the same warning signs that had occurred the previous day – occurred and continued throughout.
The pilot, Captain Okang'a, ignored the warning signs and continued with the flight, despite the plane being overloaded and experiencing technical problems. The flight officer, Sayid Abdi, called out 'positive rate of climb' and the Captain responded 'gear up'. However, the plane was heading towards Utawala side of Nairobi, and had they decided to turn back, chances are that they could have made an emergency landing inside the airport.
The JKIA Control Tower noticed that the plane was having problems with its speed and contacted the pilot, but he ignored the warning signs and continued with the flight. The final report notes that the pilot's decision to ignore the warning signs and continue with the flight was reckless and contributed to the crash.
The investigation into the crash was led by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and the final report was published in 2019. The report highlights a series of systemic failures and reckless decisions by the pilot that contributed to the crash.
