Aug. 3, 2023

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has urged aviation stakeholders and the media to desist from making categorical statements on the cause of Tuesday’s air crash in Ikeja, when investigators had yet to unravel it.

Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, the NSIB General Manager, said this in an interview with aviation journalists in Lagos on Thursday.

Recall that a Jabiru J430 light single engine aircraft with the registration number: 5N CCQ crashed at Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja, in the afternoon of Tuesday.

The aircraft was on a test flight with two persons on board when it crashed, but there was no fatality.

Oketunbi said it was unprofessional to make categorical statements and comments on the cause of a serious incident or an accident when the investigators had yet to make their findings public.

He was displeased with some statements attributed to some of the professionals in the sector on the accident, which involved two pilots.

The NSIB spokesman said that as professionals, they ought to know the rules guiding accident reports and standards and recommended practices stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

He said that ICAO Annex 13 outlines the processes leading to the conduct of an accident investigation.

According to him, it says that preliminary report should be released within 30 days of the occurrence and final report within 12 months, following the completion of investigation.

He said that NSIB, as usual, would carry out a thorough investigation on the accident and release to the public workable recommendations to prevent recurrence.

Oketunbi warned that speculations could ridicule the image of the country in the comity of nations and appealed to commentators on the accident to wait for the outcome of its investigation before going to the public with their personal opinions.

“People should stop all these insinuations about the immediate or remote cause of the accident. Whosoever that owns the aircraft involved in the crash doesn’t matter.

“This is an aviation industry, and we must not be seen to be commenting from the position of ignorance. Aviation is highly regulated, and we adhere to the standards and recommended practices of ICAO, which is the minimum.

“Everyone should wait for NSIB to commence its investigation, come out with its preliminary and final reports, which we believe will prevent a recurrence.

“People should allow us to do our job. We cannot be influenced by emotions or speculations that are currently in the public space. As usual, we will be professional with our investigation and reports,” he said. (NAN)