Risky sky The figures speak for themeselves. Only 3% of world air traffic is held in Africa, but up to 17% of the
world’s most serious plane crashes take place there. Six of the twenty one air crashes in the world from 1st to 17th January 2007 happened in Africa. Why is the sky so ‘dangerous’ in Africa? Few examples could be helpful in answering this question. In December 2005, 139 people were killed in a UTA Boeing 727 crash in Cotonou (Benin). The investigators revealed that there was a heavy charge in the front of the plane, which was unknown to the crew so that the plane’s weight was not balanced before taking off. Kenya Airways’ Boeing 787-800 crashed in Douala (Cameroon) only 11 minutes after taking off and all 114 passengers and crew members died. The official inquiry is not over yet, but the facts are that the plane took off under a heavy storm while an Air France plane was waiting for the weather to improve before leaving. It reached Paris late but safe. The later, the better. These two examples are not to hide the other dreadful crashes--such as that of Taag in Mbanza Kongo (Angola), Flash Airlines (148 victims) in Charm el Cheikh (Egypt) and Belleview Airlines in Lagos (Nigeria)- but they provide quite a clear idea of why there are so many crashes in Africa. Contrary to a widespread idea, aicrafts are not to be blamed as such: “You can’t say a plane is old” says M.T, an expert on aviation in Abidjan. A plane may happen to be out of date but the shell can be
maintained and the vital system changed. Therefore the age of a plane is just relative. Besides,
security norms require regular checks not only before every flight, but also every week and after the flight time reaches a certain level. There is also the ‘check day’ when a plane is totally taken apart and revised throughout, let alone regular anti corrosion controls to see that the sheet and screws are not rusting. “There are no old planes, there are rather ill maintained planes” says a pilot. “So, he adds, if you give certain checks a miss, you are necessarily increasing the risks of accident.” Air Afrique experienced few accidents as the personnel was well trained and the material well maintained and pilots would never fly under evil weather conditions. It then goes without saying that air freight demands a lot of financial means for planes’ maintainance and also for crews’ follow up and training. Unfortunately, several companies lack such means to comply with security requirements, hence there is great temptation to ignore some of them. That’s where the reason for most air crashes in Africa lies. Crashes due to control losses are quite unfrequent; pilots most often catch up soon after they are mistaken. According to experts, falsification of record counters and of flight registers is one of the methods most used to save money. Careless air companies recourse to this practice to reduce the flight time so that the register may indicate only 2,000 hours where the actual flight time is 6,000 hours. So they break the maintainance cost down. If, for the sake of example, a manufacturer sets a $ 2,000 price per flight hour, a company will just pay $ 4 million for 2,000 hours instead of $ 12 million for 6,000 hours actually done. National civil aviations are well aware of the liberties certain companies take with the rules. They are under considerable pressure because they are to attest that a plane may fly after checking whether security conditions are ok or not. However, some officials opt for effortless money making by giving their thumbs up regardless of the numerous lives they endanger; untill the point of no return is reached. That is Africa, the continent with countless facets.