NSIB in great financial position for multi-modal accident probe, releases seven accident reports

  • Safety implementation recommendations up by 82%

 

Basking in the euphoria of its change of name and responsibility from Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) to the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) said it is well positioned financially to undertake the onerous task of investigating air, rail, road, and maritime accidents.

The Bureau can now investigate serious incidents and accidents in the aviation industry, maritime, rail, and road following the repeal of the AIB Act.

Director-General of NSIB, Akin Olateru, an aircraft engineer disclosed that the act establishing the NSIB had raised its revenue from three percent to six percent from the Passenger Service Charge (PSC) collected by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

 

From Left to Right: Mrs. Maryam Shekoni, Deputy General Manager, Planning, Research and Statistics, Mrs. Ramatu Aliyu Mohammed Deputy General Manager, Human Resources, Engr. Hashim Wali, Director of Engineering, Engr. Akin Olateru, Director General, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Alh. Suraj Adamu, General Manager, Audit and Engr. Frank Odita, General Manager, Operations at the release of seven accident reports by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau in Abuja…..on Thursday.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on Thursday on the release of the seven accident reports, he said other sources of revenue are five percent from railway ticket sales and five percent revenue to go to the new agency from terminal operations outside Lagos,

Olateru noted that as long as the agency could drive many of the proposals in the Act, it would be financially independent, stressing that by law, accident investigative bodies are not revenue-generating organs; the reason many of the agencies are well-funded to investigate accidents.

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He said multimodal has become the future of transportation accident investigation, adding that multimodal is widely accepted as the future of Transport Accident Investigation and the transition has always been made from the extant air accident investigating agency.

“It has become expedient that the provision of Section 29 of the Civil Aviation Act (CAA) be reviewed to establish the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) in a separate act to bring it up to speed with contemporary global best practices, to create a multimodal bureau of investigation for air, rail, and maritime accidents”.

He further disclosed that the agency was on the verge of recruiting additional technocrats, explaining that more investigators would be hired to boost the number of 45 investigators on its payroll.

He stated that a great number of the new recruits were already undergoing multi-modal investigation training at Cranfield University, United Kingdom with the desire to boost the over 200 staff NSIB has.

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This is coming as the NSIB DG released seven more accident reports; the first under its new name. The reports are 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; the 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; 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 and 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.

Others are 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 10TH September 2020; 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 and 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.

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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 to date.

Olateru hinted that a lot of activities were going on in the background with five years development plans for the agency.

Wole Shadare

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