Dana Crash: Black Box Couldn't Have Melted - Stakeholders

Aside the relatives of the crash victims, many stakeholders still doubt part of the preliminary report released two weeks ago by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) which indicated that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) (black box) melted in the fire that exploded after the Dana Air flight 0992 crashed into the suburb of Lagos.

Aviation industry operators who spoke to THISDAY lend credence to that doubt, especially when none of the FDR of past three major accidents before the Dana Air crash was found.

A Nigerian pilot with many years of experience, and who is still operating, told THISDAY on Wednesday that the doubt about the melting of the flight data recorder should not be criticised because the report that the equipment melted was not convincing.

He said that the FDR has a temperature it can be subjected to before it can melt and that temperature is about 1,000 degree of heat. He argued that AIB has to explain to Nigerians the intenseness of the heat that subjected it to melt, remarking that if the equipment really melted, it is expected that other parts of the aircraft should also melt.

“Why was it only the FDR that melted, it has a temperature it can withstand before it can melt and that temperature is 1,000 degrees of heat and if the equipment melted, it is expected that all the iron in the aircraft around the black box should also melt. So, we should get the serial number of the equipment and go to Internet and find out its profile so that we should know that degree of heat that can melt it.”

Also, another pilot who is also an engineer shared the same view, saying that the fire that engulfed the aircraft was not enough to melt the equipment because “it is meant to survive intense heat.”