Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) today inaugurated a safety committee that will monitor the effectiveness of the safety recommendations made by the bureau.
Members of the committee are drawn from AIB, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Ministry of Transportation and the industry. The committee also has two consultants, Capt Kiddie Dare and Engr. Gbolahan Abatan who the AIB Commissioner said have the approval of the Minister of State for Aviation; Senator Hadi Sirika.
Speaking at the occasion held at the AIB Safety House, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the AIB Commissioner, Engr. Akin Olateru said the need for the committee was necessitated because of the need to consolidate the remarkable efforts being made by his management since assumption of office to extend the frontiers of aviation safety, not only in Nigeria but globally.
“This becomes necessary in order to consolidate the remarkable efforts being made by this management since assumption of office to extend the frontiers of aviation safety, not only in Nigeria but globally. It is with this background that AIB decided to review our recommendations from inception totaling 120 and measure the level of their effectiveness,” Olateru said.
He said the committee will engage the affected stakeholders on the effectiveness of the safety recommendations addressed to them and submit their report to AIB management, which will work on it for the benefits of the industry.
Noting that the responsibility for enforcing safety recommendations lies with NCAA, Olateru explained that was reason four members of the committee were nominated from NCAA. He was quick to explain that the exercise is to complement NCAA’s efforts and enhance the industry’s capacity to improve safety.
The AIB boss, who stated that for accident investigation reports to be relevant and effective, noted that, “it must be thorough, impartial and timely.” Even as he noted that timeliness in releasing the report is very essential.
He recalled that the agency demonstrated this by releasing three preliminary reports of two serious incidents and an accident shortly after they occurred recently.
The nation’s Chief Accident investigator, who claimed he inherited 27 outstanding accident reports when he assumed office, noted that 10 of the reports have been published while 35 safety recommendations have been generated. He promised to release more reports before the end of next month.
“We inherited 27 outstanding accident reports out of which we have published 10 as at the end of 2017. These reports generated 35 safety recommendations. We hope to release another set of six accident reports before the end of May, 2018,” he said.
Noting that safety recommendations are as critical as the investigation itself as it is the lever used to effect safety changes and improvements in the aviation industry, Olateru who made a recourse to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) stand on this, said the global aviation body also describes Accident Investigation as “a process conducted for the purpose of accident prevention, which includes the gathering and analysis of information, the drawing of conclusions, including the determination of causes and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations.”
He added, “The purpose of accident investigation, which is to improve aviation safety cannot be achieved if our recommendations are not found to be effective by the stakeholders. The recommendations guide the regulators, operators, the Ministry and other stakeholders in the industry.”.
Noting that the Bureau’s accident investigation and safety recommendations have recorded positive impacts in the national and global aviation arena, he said,”Our investigations into the Bristow Helicopter crash, which occurred in Lagos on August 12, 2015 led to the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Sikorsky, the aircraft manufacturer taking global safety actions.
“Diamond Aircraft Manufacturer also took safety action following our investigations into the serious incident involving Diamond DA 42 with registration number 5N-BKS, which occurred in Benin in July 2012.”
“AIB during investigations identifies a lot of hazards that sometimes may not be related to the particular occurrence under investigation but work with the operators to resolve them. It is noteworthy to state that safety recommendations/ safety alerts can be made at any stage of the accident investigation and we do not have to wait until final report is released.
“While we appreciate that our safety recommendations have recorded positive impacts locally and globally, we found it imperative to holistically review the effectiveness of all the recommendations with a view to enhancing aviation safety to the benefits of all air travellers.”
