Uganda to conduct internal probe on profile of Garang pilots

April 19, 2006 (KAMPALA) — The Ugandan team, that investigated Sudanese First Vice president helicopter crash will conduct “internal inquiries” into why the flight crew did not act more in line with procedure after it was concluded that the crash was caused by a flight captain’s error.

The Daily Monitor, reported that Ugandan Works, Housing and Communications Minister John Nasasira, during the official release of the overall findings of the joint Uganda-Sudan Commission, told journalists yesterday that while the crash was caused by “a combination of factors” that added up to a pilot’s fault, the Ugandan investigators would conduct what was described as a “psychological autopsy”.

Though the commissioners could not tell the press conference what direction those investigations would take, Nasasira, while responding to a reporter’s question, hinted that the continuing probe may investigate the psychological profiles and behavioural patterns of the flight crew.

It was also not yet clear whether the continuing investigation might differ from the conclusions of the report.

President Yoweri Museveni’s personal pilot, Col. Peter Nyakairu, who was known to be a highly trained and experienced pilot, manned the executive Mi 172 helicopter, in which Garang and 12 others were killed on July 30, 2005.

Now the Ugandan investigators say they are interested in establishing why, among other things, “the flight captain opted to continue visual flight into deteriorating weather conditions and yet he was trained to fly in bad weather using instruments”.

They also intend to uncover why he flew at an altitude of 5,500ft above sea level yet the Zuria mountain ranges, clearly marked on his flight map, are at a higher altitude of over 6,000 ft.

Nyakairu was aided by the co-pilot, Col. Paul Kiyimba; the officer in charge of the helicopter, Lt. John Munanura; and the flight engineer, Maj. Patrick Kiggundu.

All 13 persons on board, including seven Ugandans, perished when the Russian-made VIP Series helicopter, heading to New Site in Southern Sudan, crashed in bad weather in the Zuria Mountains.

The Ugandan team, which was constituted shortly after the crash, comprised ministers John Nasasira, Beatrice Wabudeya, Ruhakana Rugunda, and former army commander James Kazini.

Though a similar team was constituted in Sudan, the two commissions met on August 18 2005, and agreed to have a joint probe into the “probable cause” of the crash.

Nasasira said while Sudan endorsed the technical committee’s report without comment, Uganda agreed to it but made “some comments” on certain issues.

He did not divulge details about those comments. It also emerged that contrary to some reports, the helicopter went down while still in Ugandan air space, about 11 miles away from its intended destination.

The commissioners failed to explain why, after reaching Soroti, the flight crew had not been able to communicate with Flight Control at Entebbe.

Museveni has consistently suggested that since a very experienced pilot was flying a sophisticated helicopter, the hypothesis that the crash was caused by an accident, was flawed.

(Daily Monitor/ST)