By Ally Jamah
A key document will determine whether the ill-fated helicopter that crashed and killed former Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and five others was allowed to fly against safety requirements two days before the crash.
The families of the crash victims have requested Eurocopter to supply the Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) that indicates which indicates which components the helicopter cannot be allowed to fly if defective.
The request for the crucial document came up yesterday during the cross-examination of Eurocopter Aircraft Maintenance Engineer Aristides Loumouamou, who allowed the airplane to fly, despite a defect two days before the crash.
Testimonies of various witnesses including Loumouamou have confirmed on June 8, the copter indicated there was a failure in the Electronic Data Recorder (EDR), which captures information on the performance of the engine.
This occurred immediately after the replacement of the Electronic Engine Control Unit (EECU), which controls the engine.
“I consulted my superiors in South Africa by e-mail about the defect. They responded that the plane can continue flying since the defect did not affect the safety of the plane,” said Loumouamou yesterday.
He added: “I didn’t know what caused the EDR failure. If I hadn’t gotten the authorisation from my bosses, I would not have allowed the plane to fly,” he said in his three and a half hour testimony.
Lawyers of families of the crash victims as well as other interested parties have requested Eurocopter to supply the MMEL to confirm whether the EDR failure indeed had no effect on the safe flying of the plane.
Led by Mr Fred Ngatia (for the Saitoti family), Mr Mayani Sankale (for bodyguard Joshua Tonkei), the lawyers declined to accept an MMEL supplied earlier by Eurocopter dated September.
“We want to see the MMEL that was used to make the decision to allow the plane to fly in June. The current document has undergone several amendments,” said Ngatia.
Controversy
The document would confirm whether the Vehicle Engine Monitoring Display (VEMD) was in the minimum equipment list. If it turns out to be in the list, then that means that the plane should not have been allowed to fly. Ordinarily, defective components not in MEML would not stop the plane from flying.
Police lawyer Evans Monari said further cross-examination of Loumouamou and the CEO of Eurocopter Southern Africa Fabrice Cagnat would be difficult without referring to the MMEL.
The EDR failure message was flashing on the VEMD, whose quality has also become a matter of huge controversy.
Documents tabled before the commission indicate the VEMD installed in the ill-fated helicopter was still a “prototype” whose performance may not have been fully tested and certificated.
Loumouamou also revealed that upon inquiry about the EDR failure, he was told by his bosses in South Africa and France that the matter was still being investigated by experts in Eurocopter offices meaning that no definite response about the defect could be provided at that time.
This prompted Justice Kalpana Rawal, who heads the commission, to ask whether investigations on the matter have been completed, but the Eurocopter engineer said he didn’t know.
