AIB faults Senate’s claim on accident reports

Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has faulted the Senate claim that the agency is keeping the reports of investigation into air crashes in the country from the public, describing the claim as a misinformed one.

A legislator in the Senate had during plenary alluded, albeit incorrectly, that the investigative reports on Sosoliso crash of 2005, Bellview crash of 2005, ADC crash of 2006 and Dana crash of 2012 were yet to be in the public domain.

The AIB stated that the reports in question, like many others, were on the AIBs website, just a click away and that site had been in the public domain as long as the AIB had existed, stating that the reports had led to many safety recommendations that were under implementation stage by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

A statement made available to our reporter, in part read thus: “Accident Investigation Bureau holds the Senate and the distinguished senators in high regard and would not want to join issue with the premier legislative arm.

“However, the AIB is saddened by this unjustified vilification of the Bureau on the floor of the senate as the allegation was mostly incorrect.

“The Senate was misinformed. As at the time the debate was going on in the Senate the reports referred to were on the Bureau’s web site (aib.gov.ng) and just a click away from any interested member of the public.

“Some of the investigations conducted by AIB have led to significant safety improvements in the global aviation community. Examples of these are two Alert Service Bulletins by Sikorsky, a helicopter manufacturer following our preliminary investigations into the recent Bristow crash in Oworonshoki, Lagos and a Mandatory Service Bulletin by Diamond Aircraft Manufacturer on a serious incident involving Diamond DA 42 with registration number 5N-BKS that occurred in Benin in July 2012. These have contributed to preventing further accidents of similar nature and the attendant loss of lives.”