The Commissioner of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Akin Olateru has disclosed that the report of the tragic Dana Air accident, which took place at the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos on June 3, 2012 and killed about 163 souls on board and on ground, would be made public next week.
Olateru made this known at a forum organised by the Aviation Round Table (ART) in Lagos and disclosed that there were at least 37 accident reports pending at the bureau as at the time he resumed to office in January, but the Dana Air crash and three others would be ready by next week.
He said these four reports out of the 37 would be submitted to the Presidency for approval before being released to the public and promised that a minimum of 10 accident reports would also be released to the public before the end of the year.
He stressed that the era of keeping accident reports in the bureau’s wardrobe was over with his management team, noting that apart from the Dana crash report, AIB would also send the crashes of the last two Bristow Helicopters and one AOS Helicopters to the Presidency for approval.
The first of the two Bristow Helicopters crashes occurred on August 13, 2015 at the Oworonshoki Area of the Third Mainland Bridge with six fatalities while six others sustained serious injuries.
The second, which also crashed into the high sea was coming from an offshore platform, but without fatalities.
Also, the AOS Helicopters crash occurred on July 29, 2011 between Ife and Ogbomosho.
“Let me give you an example, I took over AIB on January 13, 2017, there were 37 pending accident investigation and the first question I asked was how many accidents do we have in a year that we have 37 pending accident investigation? Today, I’m proud to tell you, four reports are on their way to the President including Dana, two Bristow and AOS Helicopters reports. And by next week, we will make them official reports.
“Before the end of this year, by the special grace of God, we will release a minimum of 10 reports. There must be a big paradigm shift in the way we do thing,” Olateru said.
He explained that AIB does not have any emergency code number that the public could contact in case of an accident, promising to change all that soon.
“It is one and half pilots that we have in AIB. I said one and half because we have a fresh one who is just joining us. Is that the kind of manpower that can actually investigate accident reports? We have more helicopter incidents than fixed wing incidents in this industry, yet, you don’t have one single helicopter pilot in AIB.
“These are the issues I’m taking up with the Minister and he’s willing to support. We need to strengthen the system and we can’t just fold our hands.
We don’t even have an emergency response team in AIB. Who do you call even when you need a crane? We don’t know. Most of our management team does not know the number to call in case of an accident. There is nowhere anyone will remember the 11 digit numbers. Rather, we need a unique three digit number.
“We don’t have a control room in AIB. Once it is 4 to 5 pm, the company shuts down and I try to remind them that accidents in most times occur in the evening and on weekends. So, we must have a functional control room, radio, and monitor things that are going on. Reporting accident is another issue. We have to make it seamless. Police don’t know what to do at an accident crash site. Today (yesterday), I’m meeting with the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2,” Olateru said.
THISDAY
