CHRISPIN INAMBAO, Windhoek | Monday
AIR Namibia passengers screamed uncontrollably, some of them vomiting, when an airplane door apparently opened at 9_000 feet last week.
The flight was from Ondangwa to Eros Airport on Wednesday night.
“They screamed, shouted and did all sorts of things … one of the passengers even tried to close the door,” said a relative of one of the passengers, who spoke toThe Namibian.
The mid-air mishap was confirmed by Bethuel Mujetenga, the Director for Civil Aviation.
Mujetenga said the Directorate of Civil Aviation has asked the Chief Accident Investigator, Mwangi Kamau, to investigate the incident that badly affected some of the passengers who travelled on the 12-seater aircraft.
Air Namibia charters the aircraft that was involved.
It is a Grand Caravan from Comav (Pty) Ltd, a privately-owned air charter company that is under the joint ownership of Andre Compion and Dannie van der Merwe.
Mujetenga said the mishap was not reported to Civil Aviation through the normal channels.
“Air traffic controllers or the chief accident investigator should have been informed right away. He is readily accessible,” said Mujetenga.
“The door opened while the aircraft was in flight. Luckily enough all the passengers were strapped in their seats. It [the aircraft’s door] doesn’t open sideways; it is the type that flings up in the air,” he said.
He said the aircraft flew with an open door until it landed at Eros Airport.
Several efforts to get comment from Shareen Thude, the Senior Manager at Air Namibia responsible for Commercial Services, proved futile as she did not return several messages left with her office.
She was apparently locked up in a “meeting.”
Thude’s secretary said she was the only one with the responsibility to respond to the media.
Both Compion and Van der Merwe, the co-owners of the aircraft involved, were out of Windhoek.
Van der Merwe was traced in South Africa on Friday but he did not return a phone call.
Mujetenga said it was the second time a door had opened in mid-flight.
“We will instruct the owner to repair the door strictly in accordance with the manufacturer’s maintenance manual, and we will send our inspectors to see if specifications were followed before the aircraft can be released for service,” he said. – The Namibian