Serikali yajitenga na ripoti ya awali ya ajali ya ndege Bukoba
Serikali ya Tanzania imekanusha kutoa ripoti ya awali juu ya ajali ya ndege ya Precision Air iliyoanguka katika Ziwa Victoria Novemba sita na kuua watu 19, akiwemo rubani na msaidizi wake.
Ripoti inayokanushwa imesambaa mitandaoni toka Jumanne na kuripotiwa na vyombo mbali mbali vya ndani na nje ya Tanzania, na BBC News.
Serikali ya Tanzania sasa kupitia msemaji wake Gerson Msigwa inasema ripoti rasmi itatolewa itakapokuwa tayari na umma utataarifiwa.
Hata hivyo majibu hayo ya Msigwa yameibua mjadala na kupingwa na baadhi ya watu akiwemo Zitto Kabwe kiongozi wa chama cha upinzani cha ACT Wazalendo.
Zitto aliandika kupitia mtandao wa twitter, akisema yuko tayari kupelekwa Mahakamani kama taarifa ya ripoti hiyo ya awali ni ya uongo.
Social embed from twitter
Ndege hiyo ya ATR 42-500 yenye namba PW 494 iliyokuwa na watu 43 ilianguka kwenye ziwa Victoria mita chache kutoka uwanja wa ndege wa Bukoba, ikijiandaa kutua ikitokea jijini Dar es Salaam kupitia Mwanza. Watu 24 walinusurika katika ajali hiyo.
Tangu kutokea kwa ajali hiyo, mjadala umekuwa nani aliyeokoa watu hao 24, baada ya taarifa kinzani zikimtaja Majaliwa Jackson mkazi wa Nyamkazi, Bukoba kama shujaa na nyingine zikitaja muhudumu wa ndege na abiria ndio waliofungua mlango wa ndege kuokoa watu.
Serikali pia imekuwa ikinyooshewa kidole kwa kinachotajwa uzembe uliosababisha vifo vya waliokuwemo, huku ripoti kamili ikisubiriwa kwa hamu.
James Mbatia, alipozungumza na BBC baada ya ajali hiyo, alishangazwa kutumika kwa teknolojia dunia ya uokoaji, licha ya kukua kwa teknolojia ulinganisha na miaka 26 iliyopita ilipotokea ajali kubwa ya meli ya MV Bukoba, akigusia teknolojia ya kutumia kamba kuivuta ndege kutoka kwenye ziwa.
‘Yaani unavuta ndege kana kwamba ndoano unavua samaki kwenye bahari, ni jambo la fedheha sana’ alisema Mbatia na kuongeza ‘wale wavuvi wao ndio wanafanya kazi hiyo (uokoaji) wakati vikosi vipo , hakujawa na utashi wa kisiasa wa kufanya kazi hiyo’.
Waziri Bashungwa, akizungumza kwenye uwanja wa Kaitaba wakati wa kuaga miili ya watu 19 waliofariki kwenye ajali hiyo alihaidi kwamba serikali imesikia na itafanyia kazi maoni ya wananchi ya kuboresha vifaa vya uokoaji.
‘Katika janga hili lenye majonzi makubwa pia tumepokea maoni ya wananchi ya namna tunavyohitaji kujipanga vyema zaidi katika kuboresha mifumo ya uokoaji na kwa serikali hii sikivu inayoongozwa na rais wetu mpendwa Mheshimiwa Samia Suluhu Hassan na tunakwenda kuyafanyia kazi’, alisema Bashungwa.
Habari Asili za BBC za Ripoti ya Awali (20 November 2022)
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Air Tanzania Banned From EU Airspace Due to Safety Concerns
Several airports have since locked Air Tanzania, dealing a severe blow to the Tanzanian national carrier that must now work overtime to regain its certification or go the wet lease way
The European Commission has announced the inclusion of Air Tanzania on the EU Air Safety List, effectively banning the airline from operating in European airspace.
The decision, made public on December 16, 2024, is based on safety concerns identified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which also led to the denial of Air Tanzania’s application for a Third Country Operator (TCO) authorisation.
The Commission did not go into the specifics of the safety infringement but industry experts suggest it is possible that the airline could have flown its Airbus A220 well past its scheduled major checks, thus violating the airworthiness directives.
“The decision to include Air Tanzania in the EU Air Safety List underscores our unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest safety standards for passengers in Europe and worldwide,” said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism.
“We strongly urge Air Tanzania to take swift and decisive action to address these safety issues. I have offered the Commission’s assistance to the Tanzanian authorities in enhancing Air Tanzania’s safety performance and achieving full compliance with international aviation standards.”
Air Tanzania has a mixed fleet of modern aircraft types including Boeing 787s, 737 Max jets, and Airbus A220s.
It has been flying the B787 Dreamliner to European destinations like Frankfurt in Germany and Athens in Greece and was looking to add London to its growing list with the A220.
But the ban not only scuppers the London dream but also has seen immediate ripple effect, with several airports – including regional like Kigali and continental – locking out Air Tanzania.
Tanzania operates KLM alongside the national carrier.
The European Commission said Air Tanzania may be permitted to exercise traffic rights by using wet-leased aircraft of an air carrier which is not subject to an operating ban, provided that the relevant safety standards are complied with.
A wet lease is where an airline pays to use an aircraft with a crew, fuel, and insurance all provided by the leasing company at a fee.
Two more to the list
The EU Air Safety List, maintained to ensure passenger safety, is updated periodically based on recommendations from the EU Air Safety Committee.
The latest revision, which followed a meeting of aviation safety experts in Brussels from November 19 to 21, 2024, now includes 129 airlines.
Of these, 100 are certified in 15 states where aviation oversight is deemed insufficient, and 29 are individual airlines with significant safety deficiencies.
Alongside Air Tanzania, other banned carriers include Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe), Avior Airlines (Venezuela), and Iran Aseman Airlines (Iran).
Commenting on the broader implications of the list, Tzitzikostas stated, “Our priority remains the safety of every traveler who relies on air transport. We urge all affected airlines to take these bans seriously and work collaboratively with international bodies to resolve the identified issues.”
In a positive development, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been cleared to resume operations in the EU following a four-year suspension. The ban, which began in 2020, was lifted after substantial improvements in safety performance and oversight by PIA and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).
“Since the TCO Authorisation was suspended, PIA and PCAA have made remarkable progress in enhancing safety standards,” noted Tzitzikostas. “This demonstrates that safety issues can be resolved through determination and cooperation.”
Another Pakistani airline, Airblue Limited, has also received EASA’s TCO authorisation.
Decisions to include or exclude airlines from the EU Air Safety List are based on rigorous evaluations of international safety standards, particularly those established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
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The process involves thorough review and consultation among EU Member State aviation safety experts, with oversight from the European Commission and support from EASA.
“Where an airline currently on the list believes it complies with the required safety standards, it can request a reassessment,” explained Tzitzikostas. “Our goal is not to penalize but to ensure safety compliance globally.”
Airlines listed on the EU Air Safety List face significant challenges to their international operations, as the bans highlight shortcomings in safety oversight by their home regulatory authorities.
For Air Tanzania, this inclusion signals an urgent need for reform within Tanzania’s aviation sector to address these deficiencies and align with global standards.
The path forward will require immediate and sustained efforts to rectify safety concerns and regain access to one of the world’s most critical aviation markets.
Source: allafrica.com
‘No Marburg Confirmed In Tanzania’, But Mpox Remains ‘Public Health Emergency’
Monrovia — The Director General of the African Centers for Disease Control, Jean Kaseya, has said the center stands ready to support Tanzania and other countries in the region where suspected cases of the infectious Marburg Virus Disease have been identified. The World Health Organization earlier this week issued an alert warning of a possible outbreak in the country, although the Tanzanian Health Ministry has said tests conducted on available samples did not show the existence of Marburg in the East African nation.
“As of the 15 of January 2025, laboratory results from all suspected individuals were negative for Marburg Virus,” Tanzanian Health Minister Jenista Mhagama said in a statement. This would have marked the country’s second experience with the highly infectious disease that recently killed over a dozen people in neighboring Rwanda. Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of Marburg in 2023 in the Kegara region, said to have been the epicenter of the new suspected cases.
At the Africa CDC online briefing on Thursday, Kaseya also said another infectious disease, Mpox, “remains a public health concern”. He said that while in December 2024, the disease had afflicted 20 countries, a new country – Sierra Leone – has been added to the number after recent outbreak there. Sierra Leonean health authorities said on January 10 that two cases of Mpox had been confirmed in the country and dozens of contacts are being traced.
With thousands of confirmed cases of Mpox across Africa and more than 1000 people having died of the disease – mainly in Central Africa – Kaseya emphasized the need to increase testing, a theme he’s heralded before. The Africa CDC boss said over the next few months the continental health watchdog will deploy additional epidemiologists and community health workers to areas considered hot spots of infectious diseases in the region.
Source: allafrica.com
