Wings Aviation Missing Plane: 8 years after

On the 15th of March 2008 ,the Beech 1900D airplane took off from Lagos at 07.36 en route to Obudu. It was expected to arrive at Bebi Airstrip at approximately 09:21. The aircraft contacted Enugu ATC at 08:56 while descending to FL110. The crew were cleared to descend further down to 5000 feet. It did not arrive at Bebi Airstrip and was declared missing. 

On August 30, 2008, hunters found the wreckage in thick rain forest in Obanliku local government area.
Investigation revealed that the Enugu tower controller issued descent instructions to 5, 000 feet AMSL (FL50) outside its control airspace not considering that the aircraft was not flying the filed flight plan route and the minimum safe altitude (MSA) of the area reported by Jeppesen charts as 11,200 feet.

Causal Factor:
I. The flight crew conducted an approach into a VFR airfield in an instrument meteorological condition and did not maintain terrain clearance and minimum safe altitude which led to Controlled Flight Into Terrain.
II. The crew did not respond promptly to GPWS warning.

Contributory Factors
1. The flight crew was not familiar with the route in a situation of low clouds, poor visibility and mountainous terrain.
2. The Area Controllers did not detect the estimate as passed by the pilot for positions not in the filed flight plan (LIPAR and LUNDO) and omitting ENUGU.
3. The erroneous co-location of Bebi airstrip and Obudu on the NAMA Chart confused the crew.

Top government sources disclosed to the The PUNCH that the burnt-out wreckage of the twin-prop 19 seater operated by Lagos-based Wings Aviation, with three persons on board, was reportedly discovered by villagers in Obalinku Local Government close to the ranch. 

It was also gathered that the Cross River State Government officials have been informed of the development.

The source said, “The plane has been found and Cross River State authorities have been informed.”

The disappearance of the aircraft generated a desperate search by security agencies and the National Emergency Management Agency. But it also revealed the weakness of the nation’s search and rescue apparatus.

A gaffe by the Minister of State for Transport in charge of Aviation, Mr. Felix Hyat, who claimed that the plane had been found barely a day after it disappeared provoked public anger.

Those on board were the pilot, Captain Augustine Egbedi, co-pilot, First Officer Mohammed Tongo and a company marketing executive, Ms Fuburata Jack.

Initial reports of the wreckage sightings on March 16 were disputed by the Managing Director, Wings Aviation, Captain Nogie Meggison, who insisted then there had been no “expert identification of the so called crash site.”

After days of intensive air search involving oil company helicopters and weeks of ground searchers, the effort was called off.

Some sections of the media had reported that the aircraft might have been directed to Cameroun while others said it was flown to Canada.

During the period of NEMA’s search, experts from the United States and United Kingdom were contacted for help.

While no tangible response was received from the US, the UK said it could not do more than what NEMA had done.

Aviation experts blamed the failure to locate the aircraft quickly on the absence of radar coverage for the nations airspace.

Only two of the 21 airports in Lagos and Abuja have radar with a range of 50 nautical miles radius.

According to Vanguard report then, the remains of the victims of the ill-fated Wings Aviation Beechcraft 1900D, which crashed into the hills of Busi Village on 15 March, 2008 while flying from Lagos to the Bebi Air Strip have been returned by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB). The remains that were given to their families are those of the pilot, Capt. Augustine Egbedi, his co-pilot, Mohammed Tango, and a Standardisation Officer, Miss Fubrata Jack. Daughter of the deceased pilot, Tamara Egbedi and Mohammed Tongo, father of the deceased co-pilot, Ahmed Tongo were in Calabar with some of their relatives to receive the bodies.. Tongo said the remains of his son will be buried same day in Calabar. The relatives of Jack are being expected in Calabar too. Briefing newsmen in Calabar to mark the event, the Commissioner AIB Engr. Sam Oduselu said the remains of the victims of the crashed aircraft had to be returned to the families after a pathologist in the University of Calabar carried out autopsy on the bones. Oduselu who was represented by Tunji Oketumbi  said, The aircraft with registration number 5N-JAH was, discovered on 30 August, 2008 following which the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) commenced investigations on 03 September, 2008. The interim report is already released and posted on our website. In the course of the investigation vital components needed for the investigation were recovered along with the remains (mainly bones) of the male flight crew members and a female passenger on duty. The pathologists from University of Calabar Teaching Hospital conducted autopsy on the bones and were able to identify the bones. However, for scientific confirmation the bones were sent to a laboratory in South Africa for DNA analysis. Unfortunately the laboratory despite numerous extraction procedure and cultures could not generate any DNA-profile of the bone material good enough for use of identification. The bones were said to have been severely damaged in the crash.. With determination to get scientific confirmation, Health Sciences Authority of Singapore agreed to do analysis for us. Again, after a lot of efforts they could not generate any positive DNA result. With this development we needed to close the investigation and conclude the process of releasing the final report of the investigation into the accident. The absence of the DNA result however does not have any negative effect on our investigations. It should be noted that the pathologists have already positively identified the bones while the laboratory analysis was for scientific confirmation. We are here today to hand_over the remains to the families of the deceased to enable them render their customary obligations to their loved ones. The representatives of the families are with us here today. The President and Commander-in-Chief and the Honourable Minister of Aviation send their condolences to the families. In her own remark, daughter of the deceased pilot said, “There is nothing worse than you not burying your dead. Despite almost getting to two years, this has been successful and the families are happy. I am taking the body back to my village in Delta state, because my dad is a respectable chief. He has to be buried properly. We thank God that we have finally closed this chapter and I commend the Accident Investigation Bureau for the work they have done.” For Tongo, father of deceased co-pilot Ahmed Tongo , “I am not satisfied. They were damn too slow. The delay was so much. But there is nothing we can do. Now is the final stage and we are okay. When I collect the remains today, we are going to bury it here. We have already arranged with the Muslim community here. We would bury the remains here and then go back home to Gombe.”

A very sad one. May the departed souls continue to rest in peace.

Sources: Punch, Vanguard, Aviation safety network & nigeriavillagesquare.com