NSIB releases 7 final reports, 20 safety recommendations
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has released seven final reports on serious aircraft incidents and 20 safety recommendations to mark its footing on a new pedestal.
Director-General of the Bureau, Engr. Akin Olateru made a public presentation of the reports at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Thursday – December 29, 2022.
According to him, the reports were “essential to the fulfilment of the Bureau’s mandate of investigating aircraft accidents and serious incidents with the aim of enhancing safety, through safety recommendations issued, thereby assuring safe skies in Nigeria and Globally.”
The reports include the serious incident involving Bristow Helicopters Nigeria LTD, Embraer 135 Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BSN which occurred at Port Harcourt military Airport (NAF BASE), Port Harcourt, on the 9th March 2020; with another serious incident involving ATR-72 Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N- BPG owned and operated by Overland Airways limited, which occurred at Ilorin International Airport, Nigeria on 29th November 2014.
Other reports include the serious incident involving Boeing 737-300 Aircraft belonging to Air Peace Limited with nationality and registration Marks 5N-BUO which occurred at FL310 en route Enugu from Lagos on 14th December 2018; the serious incident involving British Aerospace BAE 125-800B Aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BOO operated by Gyro Aviation limited, which occurred at Port Harcourt, Nigeria on 16th July 2020.
Also included is the serious incident involving British Aerospace BAE 125-800B aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BOO operated by Gyro Aviation limited, which occurred at Osubi airstrip, Warri, Nigeria on 10 September 2020; and the serious incident involving a Dornier 328-100 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-DOX, operated by Dornier Aviation Nigeria AIEP (DANA) Limited, which occurred at Port Harcourt military Airport on 23rd January 2019.
The seventh and last of the reports capture the serious incident involving Airbus 330-243 aircraft operated by Middle East Airlines with nationality and registration marks OD-MEA and a parked Boeing 777 aircraft operated by Turkish Airlines with nationality and registration marks TC-LJC which occurred at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos on 29th July 2020.
Olateru said, “Details of the reports, which include the factual information, findings, analysis, conclusions and safety recommendations on the investigations, are available for download on our website.”
Reflecting on the Bureau’s achievements in this regard, Olateru said, “The newly released reports make a total of 82 aircraft accident reports released by the Bureau since its establishment in 2007 and a total of 63 reports released by the current administration from 2017 till date.
“The Bureau has also released a total of 272 Safety Recommendations since inception with 191 of the recommendations released by this administration.”
He said the reports had, already, been addressed to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the affected airlines, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), and other relevant agencies in the aviation sector.
Going forward, Olateru expressed the Bureau’s commitment to its mandate as it embraces a weightier responsibility of investigating accidents across all the modes of transportation in Nigeria.
“We remain committed, through improving our processes, human capacity and equipment, to fulfil our mandate effectively, purposefully and professionally,” said Olateru.
One of the critical steps the NSIB boss will embark upon in a near future is to boost the Bureau’s staff strength in order to gain the needed capacity to deliver its mandate.
