NSIB issues 20 safety recommendations in new accident reports

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) at the weekend released four accident reports with 20 safety recommendations.

Among the reports was a preliminary report on the boat accident involving some Nollywood actors which occurred in Anambra State, declaring that the boat driver was not certified.

Presented by the Director General, Capt. Alex Badeh Jnr, were two aviation incident final reports, one aviation incident preliminary report, and a marine accident preliminary report, along with 20 safety recommendations.

The boat accident occurred in Anam River in the state on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. It was conveying 12 actors and crew members and a boat operator before it crashed resulting in the loss of five passengers including popular Nollywood actor, Paul Odonwodo, popularly known as Junior Pope. Others who died in the incident were Abigail Frederick, Precious Oforum, and Joseph Anointing.

The Director, Transport Investigation, Abdullahi Babanya, who presented the findings of the preliminary reports and others during the briefing, stated that the speed boat capsized and all occupants were flung into the Anam River.

In its safety recommendations, the bureau urged the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) to ensure that all boats involved in commercial activities (goods and passengers) within the national inland waterways are registered, adding that the authority must ensure adequate safety measures are implemented and enforced on the country’s inland waterways.

In another report on an incident involving an Embraer-145LR aircraft of Air Peace at the Kaduna Airport on January 14, 2021, the NSIB blamed the incident on unserviceable hydraulic system, which led to a high speed rejected take-off.

According to investigation by NSIB, some of the information necessary to the occurrence were overwritten in the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) by the airline’s crew.

The investigators said the crew, during the post-occurrence interview, claimed they were not familiar with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) on preservation of CVR in case of accidents or incidents.

According to the report, the causal factor for the serious incident was the unserviceable hydraulic system of the aircraft.

Despite the initial occurrence, the NSIB investigation revealed that the fault encountered was not recorded in the technical log of Air Peace, while it was also not reported to the airline’s Limited Operations Control Centre (OCC).

With 53 people onboard – 49 passengers and four crewmembers – the NSIB report said the aircraft takeoff was aborted, which led to the initiation of a sequence of events that resulted in the failure of number-1 and number-2 wheel assemblies and additional damage to the aircraft.

Also, the NSIB report blamed inadequate staffing and non-adherence to its own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) Plc as responsible for the incident involving a ground collision between a lavatory service truck and a Boeing 737-300 aircraft of Max Air at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

The bureau also released a report on the Dana aircraft which skidded off the runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos on April 23, 2024.