Today is Sun 3 Jun 2012. I slept all day because it is the day of rest. I was rudely awakened by my friend who was in a frenzy. “What’s going on? I asked. There it was on CNN. DANA Airline had crashed. Yet another mishap in the aviation industry. I paused with shock because I was on this same air plane a week and a half ago.
It was an Abuja to Lagos domestic flight. I was earlier booked on a FirstNigeria flight which was to take off by 12 noon but was delayed till 6 pm due to bad weather in lagos. I got really upset and got a refund and paid for a DANA airline ticket which was billed to take off for 2 pm but was delayed for 40 minutes (by the way, no airline seems to take off on time these days in Nigeria). The flight was smooth all the way except for the occasional turbulence. That same plane killed 153 people today.
An aircraft in good condition is not enough. Its as if people keep forgetting the human aspect of it all which is the pilot who flies the plane. Was the pilot competent? What really happened? Did the aircraft lose an engine or two? It is not enough for crashes to happen and for people to extend their condolences to those who lost loved ones. It’s about time these crashes start getting investigated properly. People should start doing their job.
May the souls of the departed rest in peace.
The Observer 