The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that improper restraint of five large military vehicles inside a National Airlines Boeing 747 freighter led to the April 29, 2013 crash that claimed the lives of all seven crewmembers on takeoff from Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. According to an NTSB report issued Tuesday, at least one of the vehicles moved rearward during takeoff, crippling key hydraulic systems and damaging horizontal stabilizer components, rendering the airplane uncontrollable.
The Board concluded that the Federal Aviation Administration’s inadequate oversight of National Airlines’ handling of special cargo loads contributed to the accident. The Boeing 747-400 freighter carried five mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles. Investigators found no evidence to suggest that an explosive device or hostile acts brought down the airplane.
“The crew took on an important mission to support American forces abroad and lost their lives not to enemy fire, but to an accident,’’ said NTSB chairman Christopher Hart. “We cannot change what happened, but in fully investigating this accident, we hope to find ways to prevent such an accident from happening again.”
The investigation found that National Airlines’ cargo operations manual not only omitted critical information from Boeing and from the cargo handling system manufacturer about properly securing cargo, but it also contained incorrect restraining methods for special cargo loads.
The Board recommended that the FAA create a certification process for personnel responsible for the loading, restraint and documentation of special cargo loads on transport-category airplanes. Other recommendations call on the FAA to improve its ability to inspect cargo aircraft operations, specifically those involving special cargo loads.
“Today’s recommendations to the FAA, if acted upon, will bring these important issues into sharper focus, help to standardize previously ambiguous areas of oversight and guidance, and prepare FAA inspectors to determine whether this clearer guidance is being followed,” added Hart.