By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
To ensure safer skies in the Nigerian aviation industry, the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) Tuesday in Abuja released four final accident and serious incident reports to the general public.
Among the reports of previous air crashes and serious incidents in the country released include the crash of Tampico TB-9 aircraft operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria which occurred on September 26, 2018 and the crash of Boeing 747-200 aircraft operated by Veteran Avia Airlines Limited which occurred at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on December 4, 2013.
Others released are the reports of the accident involving a Beechcraft C90 aircraft operated by Shoreline Energy International Ltd, which happened at Barakallhu Village near Old Kaduna (Military) Airport on May 24, 2011 and the accident involving a Boeing 737-282 aircraft owned and operated by Chanchangi Airlines Ltd, which occurred at Port Harcourt International Airport on July 14, 2008.
Speaking Tuesday at the media briefing on the release of four occurrence reports held at AIB-N corporate headquarters at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the Commissioner/ CEO of AIB-N, Engr. Akin Olateru reiterated the need for timely release of reports of air accidents.
According to him, ” timely release of reports have been crucial to the delivery of our mandate of investigating air accident and serious incidents with the aim of forestalling such occurrence from reoccurring.
Engr. Olateru posited that “these reports are the strong foundation on which the safety of the aviation industry is built and timely release of the these reports is as crucial as accident investigation itself”.
The AIB-N boss however posited that the purpose of accident investigation, is not to apportion blame or liability but to prevent future reoccurrence of similar incidents.
Meanwhile, with the release of four additional reports on Tuesday in Abuja, AIB-N has so far released a total of 54 final reports since its establishment in 2007 while a total of 35 final reports have been released since the inception of the current administration of the Bureau.
Engr. Olateru disclosed that included in the finals reports released Tuesday are 9 Safety Recommendations which he said are very important towards preventing reoccurrence of such accidents or serious incidents when the recommendations are implemented.
“These 9 Safety Recommendations make a total of 196 Safety Recommendations released since the inception of AIB-N and a total of 115 Safety Recommendations released under the current administration which I am leading”, Engr. Olateru concluded.
