'illfated Dana Plane examined for 12 mins before flight'

A maintenance officer with Dana Airline, Lawrence Edekome, yesterday, told a Lagos coroner that he carried out a 12 minutescheck on the ill-fated Dana aircraft before it took off from Abuja to Lagos on the aborted trip.


He was testifying at the inquest into the June 3 Dana plane crash in which 153 died.


The inquest, which is being conducted by a Coroner, Magistrate Alexander Oyetade Komolafe, is at the instance of some “interested parties.”


Answering questions from the parties’ counsel, Edekome who said he conducted the maintenance check, added that it lasted for “only 12 minutes before the plane took off from Abuja on the return lap.”


Edekome, who was summoned to shed light on the maintenance schedule of the aircraft, especially on its trip from Abuja to Lagos, said it underwent routine check before its final departure to Lagos.
He insisted that the engines were certified fit before the plane embarked on the ill-fated journey.


According to him, he left Lagos for Abuja with the ill-fated plane on the fateful day but stayed back in the capital city.
He said after he completed the checks and was satisfied, he cleared the plane for the return journey to Lagos.


Edekome said he did not join the aircraft on its return trip because he was expected to return to Lagos in the afternoon of the following day.
This according to him was because he went to Abuja to relieve another technical crew.
On his routine check on the craft before it took off and how what is observed is recorded, he said: “whatever is seen in the aircraft is what is recorded in the technical log book.”


Asked why he spent only 12 minutes on the maintenance check, Edekome said: “I arrived Abuja around 2pm and I went straight to my office to drop my luggage and came back to the aircraft 25 minutes later and I inspected the aircraft for 12 minutes.”


At a point, the witness came under intense pressure from lawyers, who questioned his qualification and capabilities. They noted that he is not “a qualified engineer but a technician.”


Edekome insisted that he is a qualified aircraft maintenance engineer.
He claimed to have undergone training to handle aircraft maintenance, adding that he is recognised across the world as an aircraft maintenance engineer.
As a maintenance engineer, he said, it was not his duty to keep and go through the technical log book.


Asked about the engine problem suffered by the aircraft in 2010, he said though the craft suffered some engine problems, the one mentioned before the coroner was caused by bird strike.


The incident, he said, informed the change of the plane’s engine.
He said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), was informed of the bird strike and the change of the engine, adding that there are several other repairs carried out on the engine which made it to be certified for flights.