In recent months, Africa’s skies have been under intense scrutiny as a series of fatal crashes have raised questions over pilot training, regulatory enforcement, maintenance standards, weather preparedness and other key issues pertaining to the safety of the continent’s aviation industry.On August 6, a Harbin Z-9EH military helicopter used by Ghana’s air force slammed into a forested mountainside in the southern Ashanti Region, killing all eight passengers, including Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah, Environment and Science Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed as well as other senior political and security figures.Just one day later, this tragedy was overshadowed by another crash, when a Cessna air ambulance operated by AMREF Flying Doctors in Kenya crashed into a residential area near the capital Nairobi shortly after takeoff, claiming six lives — four on board and two on the ground.In January, a chartered Beechcraft 1900D carrying oil workers from South Sudan’s Unity State to the capital Juba went down just minutes after departure from the GPOC Unity Airstrip in Rubkona County, killing all 21 on board.In June 2024, Malawi lost Vice-President Saulos Chilima and former First Lady Patricia Shanil Muluzi to another fatal crash when a Malawi Defence Force Dornier 228 plane plunged into the Chikangawa Forest Reserve en route to the city of Mzuzu, causing nine fatalities.Growing reports of severe turbulence incidents, which have left multiple passengers injured during civilian flights, have also intensified the attention towards African aviation.
Human error — and hubris
Industry experts say the machines themselves are not the problem, stressing that human error, systemic negligence, an insufficient safety culture, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are the factors that, over time, have resulted in this worrying track record.“Airplanes are faithful machines. They are built to serve. They are built so well that [they’re] loaded with a lot of redundant components in such a way that before anything goes wrong, the airplane faithfully tells the pilots and the engineers at every point in time,” Nigerian aviation consultant Godwin Ike told DW, highlighting the abundance of backup systems in modern planes and helicopters.In his view, aircraft will typically only “fall out of the skies because human operators can be very unfaithful and more often than not, horribly dishonest.”According to Ike, there’s a certain element of human pride that can still get in the way of otherwise perfectly operational aircraft. Ike insists that taking simple actions like refusing take-off when automated systems detect a fault can make all the difference between life and death, adding that adhering to regular maintenance schedules are also just as important.“Turn that plane in for maintenance that is due. In that way, you can be guaranteed usage without any issues,” he said, adding this is not a form of weakness but safety in action.
Mind the weather
For Felicity Ahafianyo, the head of Ghana’s Central Analysis and Forecast Office, the greater danger is less about preparedness and reaction on the ground but rather in the skies. She warns that climate change has affected weather patterns in the higher levels of the atmosphere across the globe, making certain hazards less predictable.“When it comes to aviation industry, weather is a key factor. The first part has to do with the convective activities. That’s the formation of thunderstorm clouds. Another one has to do with visibility. Another one has to do with the wind shear. Some areas are getting more rainfall more than usual,” she said.“Apart from the convective activities that affect the aircraft operations, there is clear weather turbulence or clear air turbulence, which also affects aircraft operations.”Ahafianyo’s team provides helicopters with various, crucial information for the safe and proper operation of aircraft. This includes “the vertical profile of the atmosphere from flight level 600 up to 12,000 feet high in the sky, the tropical boundary locations for the day,” and “if there could be any shears that may disturb their operations.”But not every pilot listens, she says: “I was once an aviation forecaster, and could see that some pilots don’t care about the weather.” When faced with persistent weather problems, Ike argued, pilots should head to “the nearest airport, and announce that they want to do an emergency landing.”However, he added that sometimes pilots decided to follow this standard protocol too late — especially when transporting government ministers and other influential leaders, whose time may appear to be too precious for an emergency landing and interruption of the trip.
Africa’s negligence of international standards
The two analysts highlighted that the recent crashes also exposed deeper political and regulatory failings.Weak government oversight, an inconsistent safety culture, and growing economic pressures from rising fuel prices as well as the high cost of obtaining spare parts all combined to create ever growing risks.Ike also said that while the issue of human error in the cockpit must be addressed, the problem of human negligence on the ground might be even greater.Until Africa’s aviation industry caught up to the highest air traffic standards, he said, pilots must be told to treat every mechanical alert and each weather warning as an instruction, not a suggestion.International aviation bodies meanwhile have also repeatedly urged African governments to strengthen the enforcement of their safety standards and to better adapt to growing climate volatility, as each crash further erodes public trust.
