If I had been really Superstitious, I would have Quit my Job — Captain Asiwome Recalls Surviving Engine Fire

For veteran pilot Asiwome Dzakuma, one of the most dramatic moments of his aviation career became a lesson in why professionalism must always triumph over superstition.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Dzakuma recounted how a bird strike was followed days later by an engine fire, an experience that led some people to attribute the incidents to supernatural forces.

The experienced pilot, however, said he relied on his training rather than superstition.

“If I had been really superstitious, I’d have quit my job,” he said.

Dzakuma explained that the first incident occurred in 2007 after his aircraft struck a bird while returning from Kumasi.

“Coming back, we had a bird strike. A bird got in just before landing,” he recalled.

After the aircraft landed, technicians removed the dead bird from the engine cowling. He said what happened next reflected a common belief held by some people.

“They were beating the bird,” he said. “They said it was a spiritual bird.”

According to Dzakuma, the story took on a life of its own after the same aircraft later developed a serious engine problem during another flight.

While departing Kumasi, one of the engine temperature gauges began climbing abnormally, indicating that the engine was overheating. Moments later, a flight attendant reported smoke in the cabin.

“The flight attendant dinged and said, ‘Captain, we have smoke in the cabin,’” he recounted.

The crew immediately decided to shut down the affected engine.

Explaining the situation, Dzakuma noted that commercial aircraft are designed to continue flying safely on one engine.

“Aeroplanes are made to fly with one engine. One is there for redundancy,” he said.

The emergency escalated when the cockpit fire warning activated.

“Right there, the fire bells went off,” he said.

Despite the pressure, Dzakuma said years of emergency training enabled the crew to respond calmly.

“You can never meet expectations, but you fall to the level of your training,” he said.

He said he instinctively carried out the emergency procedures, discharged the aircraft’s fire suppression system and successfully extinguished the engine fire after releasing a second fire bottle.

The crew declared an emergency and safely flew the aircraft on a single engine to Accra, where engineering support was readily available.

Although the flight ended safely, Dzakuma said many people remained convinced that the earlier bird strike had been a supernatural warning.

“They said, ‘Aha, you see, it was the bird,’” he recalled.

For the veteran pilot, however, the incident reinforced a different lesson: that aviation safety depends on rigorous training, adherence to procedures and teamwork, not superstition.

“The importance of training is that when the unexpected happens, you respond with what you’ve been prepared to do,” he said.