Accident Investigation Bureau – Nigeria (AIB-N) would in a few months take delivery of an emergency mobile satellite office to aid it in the investigation of serious incidents and accidents in the country.
The equipment, which would have all paraphernalia of a real office, would be deployed to any crash site in case of any accident.
Speaking during the oversight visit of the joint National Assembly Committee on Aviation over the weekend at the Lagos office of the bureau at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, Akin Olateru, the Commissioner, AIB-N, said that the mobile office would have all the components of an office.
According to him, this would help the investigators to create a mobile office at the crash site and download the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) right at the crash site without having to delay the process.
Olateru explained that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the contract for the award of the project, adding that the procurement process had also commenced, while delivery is being awaited from the contractor.
Olateru emphasised that through the quality safety recommendations on serious incidents and accidents in the sector, AIB-N had helped to contribute to the safety recorded in the sector in recent years, maintaining that the aviation industry in Nigeria could be compared to any other developed one in the world.
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He said: “Since 2016 till date, as a country we have had only one fatal accident. The sector is one of the best in the world in Nigeria. The safer airspace is due to the implementation of safety recommendations released by AIB-N.
“We have grown to the position where we help nations to set up their accident bureaus. France just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with us. This will enable us to help the francophone countries in Africa in accident investigation. AIB has the first accredited laboratory in Africa today.”
Olateru further stated that in order to curb capital flight out of the country through training of its personnel, it is constructing a training school in Abuja where its investigators and foreigners would be trained.
According to him, AIB-N spends about $1 million (about N550 million) on training of technical personnel annually, maintaining that the construction of the training school would reduce such spending.
He informed that the project was about 90 per cent complete and hoped to commission the facility in the third quarter of this year.
“This is going to be the first of its kind in Africa with support from Cranfield University, United Kingdom, Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.
“This institution will serve as a source of internally generated revenue for AIB with an enabling study environment, a four-star accommodation of 30 hotel rooms, training rooms and an auditorium of 250 capacity,” he said.
