The Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) has denied that it attacked the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in its (AIB-N’s) serious incident reports released recently.
The agency said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi that a portion of the report that stated ‘No action from NCAA’ was not an indictment of the regulatory authority.
He said the phrase has been misinterpreted in some media reports and urged journalists to always seek clarification on any issue.
Oketunbi said both the AIB-N and NCAA have working relationship stressing that “d the two agencies are both pursuing the same goal of ensuring a robust Aviation safety regime in the country.”
The statement entitled ‘Accident report not an attack on any institution, says AIB-N’ reads: “Our attention has been drawn to reports from a section of the media on the recent accident reports released by the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria.
“The Bureau had expressed in one of its reports recently published that it issued an immediate safety recommendation in the preliminary report on the serious incident involving Azman Air Boeing 737-500 of January 3, 2019, which was not actioned by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“This appeared to have been misinterpreted in some media reports, thereby giving an impression that the report was an attack on the regulatory body.
“It should be noted that while it is the statutory responsibility of the AIB-N to investigate and make safety recommendations, the Civil Aviation Authority is by law not bound to implement any or all the recommendations where it deems it either unnecessary, time barred or impracticable to do so.
“The portion of the report that stated that ‘No action from NCAA’ was therefore not an attack on the regulatory agency but a standard practice in line with ICAO Annex 13.
“It is the norm for accident investigation agency globally to put it in the final reports if the CAA agreed, disagreed or did not implement safety recommendations.
“Suffice it to say that AIB-N has good working relationship with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the two agencies are both pursuing the same goal of ensuring a robust Aviation safety regime in the country. This synergy has contributed to the commendable record the country has recorded so far in air safety.
“The AIB-N appreciates the media and her doors are always open for clarification on any issue.”
