Two fishermen, who survived death by a whisker when a cargo plane crashed in Lake Victoria destroying their boat, are seeking compensation worth sh569m for loss of property and damages.
The Russian-made Ilyushin SO-SAB plane caught fire mid-air and exploded into pieces that fell in Lake Victoria on March 9, 2009. One of the plane fragments crashed the boat on which the fishermen were sailing.
But the two fishermen; Karim Mubajje and another only identified as Deo, survived after they dived into the water and swam before marine police and army boats rescued them.
According to Mubajje, two days after the incident, they were invited by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) management for a meeting in which the authority agreed to compensate them, but they have not been paid to date.
The fishermen have now filed a suit through Human Rights Uphold – Uganda (HURU-UG) and Company advocates seeking to be paid for; the boat lost with two engines thereon, fish which they had caught, fishing nets and revenue lost for the last seven years plus damages; all totaling to sh569m. HURU-UG is a civil rights advocacy organisation which provides free legal services to the less privileged in the society.
The accident
The IL-76 cargo plane owned by South Africa’s Aerolift International Cargo Company was chartered by DynCorp, an American private military contractor, to transport tents and water purification equipment from Entebbe to the African Peace Mission in Somalia when it crashed on March 9, 2009.
All the 11 people on board; seven passengers and four crewmembers died when it crashed. The dead included a Burundian army general and two senior colleagues, four Russian crew members, a South African, an Indian and two Ugandans – a corporal and an airport loadmaster.
According to Kenneth Byaruhanga, an advocate with HURU-UG, the Ugandan government hired the plane through Housing state minister Sam Engola. HURU-UG lawyers now want Engola and CAA to pay the fishermen.
Aviation law
Section 58 of the CAA Act says; “Material loss or damage caused to any person or property on land or water by a person in, or an article or person falling from, an aircraft in flight, taking off or landing shall be recoverable from the operator or owner of the aircraft, unless the loss or damage was caused or contributed to by the negligence of the person who experienced the loss or damage.”
Byaruhanga said CAA was included because it is the body responsible for aircrafts that fly within Ugandan air space yet the ill-fated plane did not meet international standards. Section 34 of the same Act says; “The authority shall set and maintain safety standards related to personnel, aircraft and aerodromes, which meet international criteria.”
Crash probe report
Investigations into the crash found that the IL-76 is a large-capacity turbo-fan-powered jet freighter designed to operate from short, unprepared airstrips was manufactured in 1978 with a flying life of 20 years, implying that it had expired in 1998.
The report released and published in the media in early 2010 followed the Ministry of Transport’s appointment of a commission of inquiry headed by Col. Chris Mudoola (now retired) to investigate the cause of the crash. According to findings, Aerolift acquired the plane in 2006 and registered it in the Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.
The commission noted that there were no documents to prove the aircraft had been overhauled to extend its flying life, although Aerolift insisted overhaul and season maintenance checks were done. Instead the aircraft had four engine replacements between 1999 and 2003 due to expiry of their flying life, according to the report.
Notice issued
In a notice of intension to sue dated March 9, 2016, exactly seven years after the accident, Byaruhanga said they were representing Mubajje in the matter. He said CAA had promised to pay the fishermen but when Mubajje got involved in a road accident that left him bed-ridden for about two years, they thought the lead claimant had died.
“As a result of the accident (crash), our client suffered total damages of all his fishing properties and since then he has lost all his working time because he was not compensated yet it is very clear to your knowledge that the South African insurance company, Erroddif, compensated everyone who had been affected by the crash,” the notice reads in part. Byaruhanga said it was not clear how much was paid in compensation. Attempts to get a comment from Errodiff were futile.
Engola, CAA speak out
However, Byaruhanga said when he contacted Engola, the minister said the insurance firm did not pay after the accident because some vital equipment went missing. “The minister said he could also not compensate the fishermen and advised them to go to court for redress,” said Byaruhanga.
But when New Vision contacted Engola on why the fishermen had not yet been compensated, the minister only said; “I don’t have any information (regarding that incident). Please contact civil aviation.”
Byaruhanga added that when he contacted CAA over the fishermen’s pay and also sought to be given a copy of the report about the crash, they refused to release it to him saying it was a security matter.
CAA deputy spokesperson, Vianney Luggya, acknowledged the crash incident but without divulging details told New Vision that it was not the authority to compensate the fishermen who survived the plane accident.
(Culled from www.newvision.co.ug)
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