Sometimes an aircraft is on final approach, preparing itself to land when something goes wrong.
This happened this week to a Dana Air MD-83 flight from Abuja to Lagos (Nigeria). The flight went smoothly but on final approach to Lagos the flight crew reported both engines had failed and they were fighting to control the aircraft. Possible reason for the double engine failure are yet unknown (bird strike seems unlikely). Due to the low safety record from various airlines based in Afrika, the airline was suspended and no Dana Air flights are currently being operated. Nevertheless, the airline stated that the aircraft last A-Check was completed on May 30th 2012, with the next C-Check required until September 2012. Also, the aircraft had performed several flights the days before, reporting no anomalies. Both black boxes were recovered from the debris and are now being analysed.
Fact is that the the US captain (who had over 18,000 total flying hours and had just moved from Florida, being at the airline only since 3 months) and the indian first officer (who had little over 1,000 total hours of flying experience) lost control after lossing its both engines while on final approach to Lagos. The secondhand aircraft then collided with a power line about 2 km (1.4 miles) from the runway, plunging into a built area. In result, a number of residential houses around the crash site were destroyed and all 147 passengers and 6 crew on board perished, as well as 16 people on ground, who were amongst a crowded Lagos suburb.
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