Ocnus.Net
Notes On A Crash
By Dr. G. Busch 21/2/09
Feb 22, 2009 - 8:23:02 AM
There have been lots of stories around about the "Merchants of Death"
flying around Africa after the exposure of Viktor Bout and his capture
in
Thailand in an elaborate sting conducted by the DEA. Many of these
stories are
wild fiction, boy's own fancies and good bedtime tales for small boys.
Some are
true and some are just horrid. The recent crash of an AN-12 was horrid.
However, it exposes a great deal about the hidden side of ‘gun-running’
in
Africa.
Two days
ago there was a small note in
the press that an Antonov-12 aircraft crashed and burned in Egypt. The
AN-12 is
a Ukrainian-made plane, roughly in the same size and configuration of a
C-130
(the main Western military cargo plane). It is made at the Zaprorozhye
factory
in the Ukraine. Like the C-130 Hercules, the AN-12 is the workhorse of
the
cargo fleet and has been the plane of choice of many seeking a reliable
and
inexpensive plane to use which can land on unprepared runways and,
generally,
take hard knocks. It is ideal for Africa. The AN-12 is the plane one
sees being
dismantled in the film "Lords of War". A frequent use is the transport
of arms and ammunition.
Many of
these planes have been in use
for a long time. Aircraft are made with certain rules which apply to
them about
the finite nature of their substructures. They most go in for checks
periodically. There is a hour restriction on the engines which must be
checked
periodically and a certificate produced. The avionics must be checked.
Most
importantly there is a shelf life of the airframe, after which it is no
longer
licensed to fly and its airworthiness certificate is removed. The
airframe
termination is the effective death of an aircraft. In some conditions
these
airframes can be reworked and strengthened in a licensed factory which
will
renew the "resources" and the plane can continue to fly for a bit
longer. Almost always, for AN-12s, this is done in the Ukraine at the
original factory or at a licensed plant somewhere among the former
Soviet
republics. In any case the adaptatations and improvements must be
agreed and
supported by the
ANTK
Antonov Design Bureau in the Ukraine.
The AN-12
which crashed (registration number
S9-SVN)
was out of time. It was being
ferried (without cargo) from Kisangani (Bangoka Airport) in the DRC,
via a stop
in Entebbe (Uganda) to Luxor in Egypt where it was supposed to refuel
for the
flight to Nikolyev in the Ukraine. It had been working for an Indian
company
(Service Air) in the DRC but had been given back to its owners,
AEROLIFT
COMPANY LTD on whose behalf the ferrying was to have been done.
The owners of the plane are Viktor Zelenyuk
and Yevgeni Zacharov, resident in South Africa.
For many in
the air cargo industry the
registration tells a tale of its own. The ICAO and IATA give
abbreviated codes
to designate in which country the aircraft is registered and whose
authority is
responsible for inspecting te airworthiness of the registered aircraft.
For
example the code for the US is ‘N’. The S9 registration means that the
AN-12 was
registered with the aviation authorities of Sao Tome and Principe. This
country
has a limited ability to perform its regulatory tasks; indeed few of
these
planes on their registry ever actually make it to Sao Tome to be
inspected at
all.
The
aircraft in question originally belonged to the Ukrainian company named
“VOLARE”, who sold it to Victor Zelenyuk (the owner of the South
African
registered company “Vulcan Air”) and to Yevgeny Zakharov (the owner of
the of
the South African registered company “Aerolift”).
One
year ago the Russian crew from Syktivkar under command of the captain
Alexander
Iljasov, while landing in Kisangani, executed a sharp left turn while
taxiing
to the parking area and hit the right wing of the plane against the
ground,
during the taxing to the parking area damaging an
engine
on the right wing and buckling the
right side main undercarriage. The local DRC authorities examined the
damage
and pronounced the plane not airworthy. In fact, the DRC Aviation
Authorities
suggested that they cut it up for scrap metal. The owners were
undeterred. They
changed the engine, patched the wing and reinforced the undercarriage.
They
then said it was airworthy. It continued to fly.
The
principals of the Aerolift and Vulcan Air companies have a chequered
past.
According to South African and Ukrainian sources their track record is
not
brilliant. According to theim “Evgeniy Zakharov is ex- co piliot of
YAK-42 air
craft of “Volga” aviation company based in Volgograd city. He had very
strong
links with the ‘black caviar mafia’ in Volgograd, who lent him money to
purchase AN-12 aircraft. However, because they have been imprisoned for
a few
years Zakharov never been paid their money back. Right now they are
free and
looking for Zakharov in order to get their money back. That is why
Zakharov
keeps his profile low and is hiding. In order to avoid any contact with
outside
world he is living in South Africa where he feels safe.”
Victor
Zelenyuk is originally born and raised in
the Ukraine, but now has South African citizenship. He calls himself
the “Godfather”
of ANTK Antonov Design Bureau and as per his declarations has very
strong
relationship with the secret services of Ukraine (SBU). He spent some
time in a
Zambian jail for illegal arms dealing with the ex-leader of UNITA in
Angola
Jonas Savimbi, when the
UOTK’s (Ukrainian
National Avia Transportation Company) Ilyushin-76 aircraft was grounded
by
Zambian air forces while attempting
to
bring arms to Savimbi’s forces.
The
Ukrainians say that Victor Zelenyuk still owes some money to UOTK. When
he says
that he is the 'Godfather’ of the ANTK Atonov Design Bureau this means
that
everybody, who is operating Antonov air craft need to contact him to be
able to
extend the resources of the aircraft
without unnecessary problems He is the intermediary with the
ANTK. Recently,
Zelenyuk and Zakharov both operators of the Antonov air craft wrote a
letter to
ANTK Bureau, where they described the condition, faults and details of
all
Antonov air craft of other operators in DRC except theirs, stating
that all
other air crafts were not airworthy. The DRC Government, on the basis
of their
letter, made the decision to send all Antonov air craft for extensive
repair
works or major overhauls
Victor
Zelenyuk is a well-known figure
in South African business. He was most recently in the news earlier
this month
following the death of Gottfried Rautenbach, South Africa's Madoff.
Zelenyukwas
a partner of Rautenbachs in a "bridging financing enterprise", which
was called
Danter Beleggings. Zelenyuk agreed to invest
in the
company which would offer bridging finance transactions to others and
for which
they would take 4% interest a month. When Zelenyuk didn't get paid for
a while
he had the company sequestered (put in receivership) at which point
Rautenbach
committed suicide. The question which arose was not if Victor Zelenyuk
was a
fool but where did he get the R10.5 million to invest in the venture.
The answer,
for anyone in the air cargo
business, is that Zelenyuk and his partner Yevgeni Zacharov operated
cargo aircraft on behalf of ADAJET (previously ADAGOLD-Australia), a
company
famous for allegedly transporting arms around Southern Africa and dodgy ballot
papers for
African "elections". They are considered as giving African air cargo
business a bad name.
These two were obliged to send their depleted AN-12 aircraft back to
the
Ukraine. They, however, did not choose to ferry this plane back to the
Ukraine
using their own crew. Either their own crew who knew the plane well
refused to
carry out this mission or the pair decided to take on an AN-12 crew
which was
sitting idle in South Africa awaiting the repair of their own aircraft
which
was delayed. At any rate, the hired crew (taken on without the
knowledge of
their employer) were promised that if they agreed to ferry the crashed
aircraft
for its’ owners, Zelenyuk and Zacharov promised to push the Antonov
Design Bureau to ease up and approve the extension of resources on
their own
aircraft then being repaired.
The Captain
of this aircraft was a
highly experienced pilot and a decent and very hard-working person, a
Mr Yuri Berdiev, who was
considered
the best captain of Antonov-12 aircraft
in the whole African continent
They
agreed to do this flight so
that they could get back to their “own” aircraft and start working
again. They
had been without any flying work for the past 12 months.
Unfortunately
the aircraft was is such
a state of disrepair that it caught fire after refueling in Luxor,
Egypt as it
was taking off. All the crew died in the fire. It was a tragedy for
everyone
involved. The owners are alleging a bird strike but this has yet to be
proved. This
is a tragedy that didn't need to happen. Even if an exemption was
granted to
allow the plane to fly off for repairs, some inspection of its
airworthiness
must have been made before it is allowed to take off. To a large extent
air
traffic depends on the presumption of good faith and the knowledge that
no
pilot or crew are willing kamikazes. In this case, the crew didn't
appreciate
the state of the plane they were ferrying and the 'good faith' of its
owners
was lacking.
This will
not likely be the last such
tragedy in African cargo aviation as long as these rogues continue to
operate
in this manner.
Source: Ocnus.net 2009