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The loss of LAM Mozambique Flight 470 on 29 November 2013 undoubtedly marked the darkest day in the East African flag-carrier’s 77-year history.
All 33 souls aboard the newly delivered Embraer 190 died when, according to preliminary investigations, Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes locked his co-pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately sent the plane hurtling towards Namibian soil at 6,000 feet per minute.
The suggestion that pilot sabotage was to blame only intensified the distress of LAM’s management team, which had been working tirelessly to remove the airline from the European Commission’s blacklist. Chief executive Marlene Manave and chairman Carlos Jeque both lost their jobs in the months that followed, with the board pledging a fresh start for the beleaguered airline...
