… In collaborations with Air Force
Commissioner of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr. Akin Olateru has disclosed that there were at least 37 accident reports pending at the bureau as at the time he assumed to office in January.
This is just as he said that the final report of the June 3, 2012 accident that involved a Dana Air aircraft in which163 souls on-board and on ground perished at the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos and three others would be submitted to the presidency for approval before being released to the public.
Olateru made the disclosure at a forum organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos.
He, however, assured that the reports of the four accidents would be published by next week while a minimum of 10 accident reports would follow suite before the end of the year.
The AIB boss stressed that the era of keeping accident reports in the bureau’s wardrobe was over with his management team.
Apart from the Dana crash report, other reports to be sent to the presidency for approval are of crashes involving two Bristow Helicopters and one AOS Helicopters.
The first of the two Bristow Helicopters crashes occurred on August 13, 2015 at the Oworonshoki Area of the Third Mainland Bridge with six fatalities while six others sustained serious injuries.
The second, which crashed into the high sea was coming from an offshore platform, was without fatalities.
The AOS helicopters crash occurred on July 29, 2011 between Ife and Ogbomosho.
According to him, “Let me give you an example, I took over AIB on January 13, 2017, there were 37 pending accident investigation and the first question I asked was how many accidents do we have in a year that we have 37 pending accident investigation? Today, I’m proud to tell you, four reports are on their way to the president including Dana, two Britstow and AOS Helicopters reports. And by next week, we will make them official reports.
“Before the end of this year, by the special grace of God, we will release a minimum of 10 reports. There must be a big paradigm shift in the way we do things.”
Lamenting the dearth of core qualified personnel in the Bureau Olateru said: “There are only “one and half pilots” while none specialises on helicopter accident investigation despite the frequencies of helicopter crashes in the country”.
He declared again that AIB does not have any emergency code number that public could contact in case of an accident, promising to change all that soon.
“It is one and half pilots that we have in AIB. I said one and half because we have a fresh one who is just joining us. Is that the kind of manpower that can actually investigate accident reports? We have more helicopter incidents than fixed wing incidents in this industry, yet, you don’t have one single helicopter pilot in AIB.
“These are the issues I’m taking up with the honourable minister and he’s willing to support. We need to strengthen the system and we can’t just fold our hands.
“We don’t even have an emergency response team in AIB. Who do you call even when you need a crane, we don’t know. Most of our management team does not know the number to call in case of an accident. There is nowhere anyone will remember the 11 digit numbers. Rather, we need a unique three digit number.
“We don’t have a control room in AIB. Once it is 4 to 5pm, the company shuts down and I try to remind them that accidents in most times occur in the evening and on weekends. So, we must have a functional control room, radio, and monitor things that are going on. Reporting accident is another issue. We have to make it seamless.
“Police don’t know what to do at an accident crash site. Today (yesterday), I’m meeting with the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2.”
Meanwhile, the Bureau and Nigerian Air Force have agreed to explore areas of cooperation to enhance aviation safety in the country.
This was a fallout of a meeting between the leadership of the two bodies when the new Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of AIB, Engr. Akin Olateru paid a courtesy call on the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar in the latter’s office in Abuja.
The Chief of Air Staff who lauded the role of AIB in promoting safety in the aviation industry said the Air Force would be willing to extend its human and material resources to the Bureau and urged its management to identify the needed areas of assistance.
According to the Chief of Air Staff, “accident is what nobody wants but in aviation it happens sometimes despite every effort made to prevent it”, adding that “we need to deal with issues before accident happens.”
AVM Abubakar said the Nigerian Air Force has upgraded its medical and training facilities spread across the country to boost its capacity to respond promptly and effectively to emergencies.
Training of Air Force officers, he said has been upgraded, especially for the pilots and engineers who, according to him, were given decent accommodation to ensure they were focused on safety.
He said, “We are providing decent accommodation for the officers flying and maintaining our aircraft. We train, provide facilities, seminars and make sure our hospitals are okay, we do medical evaluations. We have evaluations, once quarterly for our pilots where they take written tests to make sure they are up to task. Same thing for our engineers.”
He invited AIB to be part of safety evaluation to have independent assessment from an outsider.
“We need to have simulations of accidents to see the gaps and see what to be done. You may have excellent plan but when it comes to execution, it is a different thing,” he said
Earlier in his remarks, Engr. Olateru commended the Nigerian Air Force for Its formidable role in aviation and in the defence of the nation.
The AIB boss stressed the importance of a stronger relationship between the two bodies adding that the Air Force is strategically placed to help during emergencies with its facilities spread across the country.
He canvassed for cooperation in human capital development and emergency response.
“There are a lot you can do for us in training. We know you don’t joke with training in Nigerian Air Force. We need to have cooperation with you in developing human capital. We also need a documented emergency response plan in which you can play a very critical rolle”‘, said Olateru.
Working together, he said will help AIB in fulfilling its mandate of accident investigation and prevention.
The AIB boss offered the Air Force the opportunity to use the Bureau’s flight laboratory for its incident and accident purposes just as the Chief of Staff pledged to post an officer to work in AIB as done to Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and some other agencies.
The two government bodies agreed to set up a joint-committee to explore areas of mutual cooperation.
Since he assumed office less than two months ago, Olateru has been galvanizing all relevant sectors to reposition Accident Investigation Bureau towards the fulfillment of its mandate of improving Aviation safety through investigation of serious incidents and accidents.
