The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria today released final reports of four accidents and serious incidents of aircraft occurrences in the country within 2014 and 2019 even as it announced the issuance of nine safety recommendations that will boost air safety in the country.
Among the reports was the one on a helicopter crash involving Vice President Yemi Osibajo on February 2, 2020 in Kabba, Kogi State. There was no fatality.
According to the Commissioner/CEO of the agency, the reports make the number of final reports of aircraft occurrences issued by AIB since 2017 at 31 while 106 safety recommendations have been issued.
Said Olateru: “We have before now released 27 final accident reports to the public and today, we will be releasing an additional four reports, which will bring the total final report released by this administration from 2017 till date to 31. These Four Final Reports include a total of nine Safety Recommendations, making a total of 51 Final Reports and 187 Safety Recommendations since the inception of AIB.”
The four reports released also included the one on the Serious Incident involving Bombardier DHC-8-Q400 aircraft owned and operated by Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Ltd. with nationality and registration marks 5N-BPU, which occurred at FL240, 80 NM to Lagos on 18th April 2017.
Also released were final reports on two serious incidents involving two aircraft, a Diamond DA-42 aircraft with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BNH and a Diamond DA-40 aircraft with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BRM, owned and operated by the International Aviation College, which occurred on Runway 23 Ilorin International Airport on 1st of May, 2019 and 27th of March, 2014 respectively.
The report on the Accident involving an Agusta-Westland AW139 Helicopter operated by Caverton Helicopters Limited with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-CML, which occurred at Kabba Stadium, Kogi State on 2nd February, 2019 stated that there were 12 persons on-board, including the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his entourage and three crew members, which was composed of the Captain, Co-Pilot and an Engineer.
The report stated that ’the flight crew encountered a brownout condition during the hover to land, which led to the loss of external visual references, spatial disorientation and loss of situational awareness resulting in a misjudgement of distance and ground clearance, as the flight crew tried to control the helicopter’s movements for landing. The helicopter landed hard and rolled over on its right side.’
As contributory factors the Investigation fingered ‘inappropriate landing technique used, non-adherence to company procedures for known or anticipated brownout condition during landing and lack of risk assessment, limited landing site preparation and planning prior to commencement of the flight.’
Two Safety Recommendations were issued in the Final Report.The details of the reports are on AIB’s website.
It is worthy of note that ‘eleven days after the accident, the AIB issued two Interim Safety Recommendations, one to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and one to Caverton Helicopters. The required safety actions were initiated and implemented promptly.’
According to the Commissioner, “Safety Recommendations in accident reports have impacted air safety positively not only in Nigeria, but globally. They are very important towards preventing recurrence of such accidents or serious incidents when safety recommendations are adhered to.”
”A total of 32 Final Reports have been released since January 2017, which makes up 62.7% of AIB’s total of 51 Final Reports released since inception (2007). The 106 safety recommendations issued since 2017 account for 56.7% of the total 187 issued since inception,” said Olateru adding that “before the end of the year, we should be able to release an additional six Final Reports to the public.”
“In order to ensure timely release of reports, we have simplified our investigation process by encouraging team work. Investigations are now done in groups and they all work together to ensure investigations are done efficiently and timely. Like I always say a simple, not complex investigation, should not last more than 18 months.”
The Commissioner also disclosed that AIB-N would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Air Peace, one of the domestic carriers with a view to ensuring that the airline’s crew preserve material evidence, especially the flight recorders.
Full details of the reports can be found in the following links:
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Aero-5N-BPU_Final-Report.pdf
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Final-Report-on-5N-CML-Final.pdf
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IAC-5N-BRM_-Final-Report.pdf
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IAC-5N-BNH_Final-Report.pdf
