From left, General Manager, Audit, Mr. Suraj Adamu, Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, Accident Investigation Bureau, (AIB) Capt. Akin Olateru and Director of Engineering, Engr. Mohammed Wali at a press briefing releasing final report of accidents investigated and their recommendations held at Air Safety House, AIB, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

From left, Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, Accident Investigation Bureau, (AIB) Capt. Akin Olateru, Director of Engineering, Engr. Mohammed Wali and General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi at a press briefing releasing final report of accidents investigated and their recommendations held at Air Safety House, AIB, Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released six final accident and serious incident reports that occurred in the Nigeria aviation industry between 2009 and 2014.

The most striking of the crashes was one involving Associated Airline aircraft carrying the remains of former Minister of Aviation and former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu which occurred less than one minute after take-off at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on October 3, 2013 near aviation fuel dump.

The report identified inadequate regulatory oversight as the airplane did not go through the mandatory maintenance checks.

There was also poor Crew Resource Management (CRM) as Captain of the ill-fated aircraft and his First Officer and entire crew worked at cross purposes before and during take-off of the aircraft.

The aircraft came down at 118 meters after take-off, killing all onboard with the exception of four people who sustained major injuries.

In short, the report stated that take-off should have been aborted when the crew noticed defects with the airplane but decided to continue with the flight.

The report indicated that the Pilot Flying (PF) and the entire crew ignored all signs on their equipment, Emnraer120ER, registration 5N-BJY, a charter flight, scheduled to depart Lagos to Akure on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).

According to the report released by Commissioner, AIB, Akin Olateru, an aircraft engineer, “The Captain was the Pilot Flying (PF) and the First Officer was the Pilot Monitoring (PM). The aircraft departed with No. 1 Engine torque indicator stuck at 76 per cent. A crew-derived non-standard procedure was used to set the No. 1 Engine take-off power, as the torque indicator is the primary gauge for setting power”.

“After take-off power was set, a take-off flap configuration aural warning came on indicating that the flap position did not agree with the selection”.

The report equally cited Associated crash causal factor on the decision of the crew to continue the take-off despite the abnormal number two propeller indication warning and the low altitude stall as a result of low thrust at start of roll for take-off from number two engine caused by an undetermined malfunction of the propeller control unit.

On the contributory factor, the AIB’s release fingered the aircraft being rotated before attaining V1, the decision to continue the take-off with flap configuration warning and auto-feather warning at low speed, poor professional conduct of the flight crew, inadequate application of Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles, poor company culture and inadequate regulatory oversight.

Among the six reports released were two accidents and four serious   incidents.

Another accident report released was that of Westlink Airlines Limited Piper Aztec 23-250 aircraft with the registration number 5N-BGZ, which occurred at Matseri Village, Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State on August 11, 2014.

The serious incidents were Aero Contractor’s DHC-8-400 aircraft incident with registration 5N-BPT, with the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) baggage loader on April 29, 2014 and another incident involving two Bristow Helicopters aircraft, Bell 412 helicopters with Registration numbers 5N-BGS, and 5N-BDD, at the Addax Base Helipad, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria on 12th November, 2009.

Also covered were the serious incidents involving two aircraft belonging to Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT). They were the Tampico Club TB9 with the registration number 5N-CBE, which serious incident occurred at Zaria Aerodrome, Kaduna State on October 4, 2012 and another serious incident involving Tampico TB–9 Aircraft with registration number 5N-CBI that occurred at the same Zaria Aerodrome on May 23, 2012.

Since assumption of office on January 2017, the AIB chief disclosed that they have released 16 accident reports, 27 safety recommendations and a total of 147 safety recommendations since the inception of AIB.

“We believe that these has impacted air safety, not only in Nigeria but globally.”

Olateru while releasing the reports at the AIB office in Lagos said that the bureau was committed to releasing accident reports promptly to realise the purpose of accident investigation, notified of the Associated crash through a phone call by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) immediately after the accident.