Air Peace declared ‘May Day’, ILS erratic in Max Air incident – AIB
The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) has released two preliminary reports on serious incidents involving aircraft owned and operated by Air Peace Limited and Max Air.
The Air Peace Boeing 737-500 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BUJ was en-route Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri on November 5th, 2019 when the incident occurred at about 23,000 feet above Mean Sea Level (FL230).
The report stated that the flight crew identified the occurrence as ‘severe engine damage’ and in response, carried out memory items before consulting the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH).
According to the first officer, who was the PF at the time, “At about 23,000 ft, I heard a loud bang and the automation went off and the airplane veered a little to the right.
The second bang came a few seconds after the first and we quickly glanced at the primary engine instrument panel and noticed that N2 indication was zero, N1 was also rapidly decreasing and was at about 30 per cent while we were climbing.”
The report stated that the Captain took control of the aircraft and requested that the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) be started, adding that at 07:46:32 h, the crew declared ‘MAYDAY’ (emergency) to Air Traffic Control (ATC), requesting to stop climbing and make an air return to Lagos which was granted.
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organizations such as firefighters, police forces, and transportation organizations also use the term.
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Convention requires the word to be repeated three times in a row during the initial emergency declaration (“Mayday mayday mayday”) to prevent it being mistaken for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual mayday call from a message about a mayday call.
The ATC according to AIB report cleared the aircraft to descend to FL220 and proceed to Lagos. The Captain briefed the passengers about the situation while the First Officer notified the Airline’s OCC.
“At 07:48:44 h, ACC further cleared the aircraft to descend to FL160, proceed directly to Lagos, to contact Approach Control and was acknowledged by the crew. At 07:49:57 h, when the aircraft was in contact with Approach Control, the crew downgraded the emergency declaration to a ‘PAN PAN PAN’. They also requested to use runway 18R for landing”.
