Government will invite experts from China to carry out investigations on what caused the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) helicopter to crash at City Airport in Lusaka on Tuesday.
A ZAF pilot, Misapa Mukupa died upon arrival at the University Teaching Hospital after he sustained serious injuries while his co-pilot Kenneth Chilala sustained minor injuries.
The accident happened when a crew returned from the Youth Day Celebrations where the three helicopters flew past the Freedom Statue.
Defence Minister Geoffrey Mwamba yesterday said government would invite experts from China who were the manufacturer of the aircraft to be part of the investigation team that has been instituted to investigate the cause of the accident.
Mr Mwamba said Zambians should be patient as the investigations would not be concluded within 24 hours but would take some time to be concluded.
“There is no development yet because as I said yesterday, we have instituted a body of inquiry into what caused crashing and results cannot be ready within 24 hours because we will need to bring in experts from China who are the manufacturer of that aircraft and so it will take some time,” Mr Mwamba said.
Mr Mwamba who on Tuesday announced the death of Major Mukupa said government was saddened with the death of the officer and has since sent messages of condolences to the bereaved family.
And speaker of the national assembly Patrick Matibini has asked vice president Guy Scott to issues a ministerial statement by Friday this week on the ZAF chopper which crashed at city airport killing the pilot.
This was after a point of order raised by UPND Monze central Member of Parliament Jack Mwiimbu who wanted to know what led the ZAF chopper to crash.
In his ruling Dr Matibini ordered Dr Scott to issue a ministerial statement by Friday to clear the air on the crashed chopper.
why was the pilot taken to UTH when Maina soko military hospital is nearer and is supposed to cater for military personnel
In emergencies if you are not trained to calm your nerves you easily forget the simple things. They could have forgotten that Maina soko military hospital existed
Youre very wrong. Think before you comment. UTH is far closer than city airport. Direct from longacres round about.
Why not call on an independent investigator than the same people (Chinese) who happend to be the makers of the said helicopters……simple
They have to be part of the investigation in-case the helicopter has a design flaw
This habit of always wanting to find a fort is bad, any way to canfort the family its good
No need. Just interview the eye Witnesses than waste our money even further.
KCI in the aviation industry accidents are taken seriously. LM, manufacturers always give a report after an accident that is why the have to be brought in. The independent organ here the Civil aviation authority
Spot on Evans! The problem you will encounter on these bloggs is the simplistic approach to serious issues, possibly caused by ignorance. Aviation accidents are always investigated thoroughly to avert future accidents. I bet most of the people on this blog would have just changed the batteries on the new Boeing Dreamliner instead of first investigating why the batteries were causing fires so as to save money.
The cause of the accident was clear the flag which was tied underneath the helicopter for youth day celebrations came loose and got entangled in the tail rotor. With the tail rotor jammed, there was no way the pilot could maintain control of the helicopter
DONT WASTE ANY MORE MONEY . YOU TIED A CLOTH TO THE CHOPER ANDT THAT INTERFEARED WIT ROTTER BLADES. WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO HEAR. HEY AM FAILING VISIT ZWD. WHATS UP!?!
ZWD has been hacked!!
its back online
Number 6 is correct
why investigate just phone them i ask what happens when the tail rotor is jumed say by a flag or a rope,period
hahahahahahah @leon you make laugh on this one.Anyway may the soul of the officer rest in peace.
Chinese sold you fake helicopters and you invite the same criminals to investigate……this govt of CNPs!!
This is how these fools steal public money. Mwamba is another thief.
@truth watch your language pliz lets discuss some progressive issues here.
Tail cannot be jammed by a mere flag, the cause was dynamic force failure at the center point convolution equation as integration from city airport to statehouse distance domain was registering infinity on the dash board
If you think it can be torn to shreds think again, once it(flag+attaching ropes) start winding on the tail rotor shaft, its rotational speed can be affected hence causing the helicopter to spin out of control
WHY GO FAR FETCHING WHEN PROF. CLIVE E CHIRWA IS A FELLOW IN CRASHWORTHINESS AND DESIGN, AND HE IS IN THE COUNTRY RUNNING ZRL
The ignorance on this blog and on this particular subject is breath-taking, to say the least!! For starters, that chopper DID NOT crash-land; it CRASHED, period. There is a whole world of difference between crash-landing and crashing.
At last some one know the difference between a crash landing and a striaight forward crash as was the case in the accident on Youth day
I beg the powers that be. Please napapata sana aircraft accident are not investigated like minibus accidents. This country has a lot of very experienced aviator who could ad
Wasting tax payers money
It luks fanny dat he’s da 1 dead & not u huh!!!!jst sympathize coz u really don’t know who might be nxt
bushe iyi helicoptor teyimoyine yaiteneke when SATA and a group went to southern province?yasukafye yaipayapo umo.check them wel & stop using juju pabanenu.