The Nation (Nairobi)
Peter Mwaura
12 May 2007
Nairobi — The delayed, protracted and initially confused and off-course search for the Kenya Airways plane that crashed in Cameroon last Saturday is a cruel reminder that African countries lack the minimum level of expertise required to respond professionally and effectively in the event of an aviation disaster.
Flight KQ 507 crashed only about five kilometres from Douala International Airport, yet it took the Cameroonian authorities almost two days to locate the downed plane. The plane was located on Sunday but midway through the week they were still recovering bodies, which had already decomposed.
Admittedly the circumstances of the crash were extraordinary - bad weather, technical communication problems and critical time frame. The plane crashed shortly after midnight -- at the weekend when most civil authorities in Africa may not be up to speed -- in a forested, swampy area that was difficult to access.
Still, the Cameroonian authorities did not mobilise a search and rescue mission until around 11 on Saturday morning. That was unbelievably lethargic by any standards.
CAMEROON IS BOUND BY international law to provide prompt and effective assistance to any aircraft in distress in its territory.
Under the Chicago Convention, state parties are required to provide maximum efficiency in such search and rescue operations and to train their search and rescue personnel regularly.
When the African Civil Aviation Commission and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recently carried out an evaluation of the search and rescue preparedness of 18 African countries, including Cameroon and Kenya, they found that most lacked efficient search and rescue systems.
Some did not even have rescue coordinating centres or equipment to deal with an eventual air disaster. One or two had well-organised and effective search and rescue systems, but the majority were poorly prepared.
The evaluations, carried out in 2002, found out that the most common shortcomings included lack of training, inadequate staff, quality control and poor funding.
But the most damning finding was that the countries rarely carried out search and rescue exercises. Many of them lacked the political will to do so. Others lacked the necessary technical expertise, funds, equipment and human resources to organise exercises in good conditions.
It is well known that search and rescue exercises are extremely useful as they test the functionality of the entire system, the efficiency of all players who include air traffic control services, civil aviation, airlines, ambulances and medics, security forces, and so on.
ICAO recommends that a full-scale exercise should be held at least every two years.
According to ICAO, African search and rescue systems are idle most of the time because of the low level of air traffic in most countries, despite a proportionally high-accident rate in Africa.
In such conditions, even well-trained search and rescue units may not be operational when a major catastrophe such as the crash of KQ 507 happens.
Air traffic in Africa is about two per cent of world traffic. All the same, air traffic in Africa is increasing steadily and accident rates are likely to increase. It is in Africa, more than in any other part of the world, where the training of search and rescue personnel is crucial. And it is therefore vital for African countries to hold regular search and rescue exercises to ensure that they can respond to an accident professionally and effectively, says ICAO.
The downing of the Kenyan airliner with 114 people on board in the dead of night in the Cameroonian jungle sorely underscores the importance of search and rescue preparedness.
Usually there is a direct link between the level of preparedness and the number of survivors rescued and equipment salvaged. Most survivors would be rescued in the event of an accident in a country that is well prepared.
If the Cameroonian search and rescue mission for the Kenya Airways plane had not be so confused and dragged out it would have been possible to recover bodies, if not survivors, before decomposition.
Not much has changed since the evaluation carried out four years ago on the 18 African countries, which found that many did not even have a point of contact for a search and rescue operation.
THERE WAS NO AUTHORITY IN charge of search and rescue services coordination, no international aerodromes equipped with appropriate emergency plans, no rescue coordination centre equipped with adequate communication means with position fixing and radio direction-finding stations. There was also no equipment for the removal of wreckage, and no sufficient and properly trained search and rescue personnel.
Hopefully, the international and Africa-wide interest in the shocking news of the drawn-out search for the Kenya Airways plane will inspire greater interest in aviation disaster preparedness in the continent.
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