Summary Under investigation Crew 1 Survivors 4 Number of deaths 8 Operator Moremi Air Services Passenger count 11 | Passengers 11 Fatalities 8 Date 14 October 2011 Injuries (nonfatal) 4 Survivor 4 | |
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Site Xakanaka Airstrip, Botswana Similar Missinippi Airways Cessna 2, 2011 Avis Amur Antonov, Aerocon Flight 238, 2011 Tawang Town Mil, 2011 Perryville Piper PA | ||
On the 14th of October 2011, a Moremi Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan crashed shortly after take-off from Xakanaka Airstrip on a scheduled domestic flight to Pom Pom air-strip, which served a private game reserve 60 miles north of Maun, Botswana.
Contents
Aircraft
The plane was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, with a single turboprop engine with fixed gear and was designed as a short haul airliner and utility aircraft. The plane involved in the incident had a tail number of A2-AKD, was first flown in 1996, and was able to seat thirteen passengers and one crew member. At the time of the accident only twelve including the pilot were on board.
Crash
The plane took off from Xakanaka Airstrip at 13:55 local time bound ultimately for Maun, but with a stop at the Pom Pom air-strip forty six miles to the west first. The crash happened almost immediately in the initial climbing phase very close to - and facing towards - the runway. Upon crashing, flames engulfed the plane extremely quickly, although it is unclear whether the fire had started before or after impact with the ground. One of the passengers, an official for Botswana’s Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS), was able to escape the flames and rescue his colleague and a French couple. Six other passengers and the British pilot were pronounced dead at the scene and another died shortly after the incident. Sue Smart, the CEO of Moremi Air Charters, told reporters that the pilot ‘was the company’s general manager [and] most seasoned pilot with over 12,000 hours of flying.’
Aftermath
Within ten minutes of the crash, other operatives were flying over the site and ground emergency services arrived at the scene within an hour, as well as members of the Botswana Defence Force and Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB). Due to the severity of the fire, identification of the victims was only possible through DNA testing. A full investigation into the crash was initiated with EFATO (Engine Failure After Take-Off) being considered as a likely cause. The head of the Aviation Law department of Stewarts Law LLP, James Healy-Pratt, cast doubt on such a verdict, stating that it is unusual for experienced pilots to attempt to return to the air strip in the event of EFAT. Other theories included possible overloading of the plane; given that the plane was not full to capacity and that the two officials of DRTS were only on the plane to assess the vehicles run by Moremi Air and not tourists with large amounts of luggage this also seems unlikely. A bird strike or, according to solicitors working on the incident, 'some other form of in-flight catastrophic failure' were also plausible explanations for the crash.
Investigation
The Ministry of Transport and Communications is to conduct the investigation.
As of July 2012 the investigation was ongoing.