The Accident Investigation Bureau-Nigeria (AIB-N) yesterday released reports on the serious incidents involving a Gulfstream G-IV aircraft marked 5N-BOD operated by Skybird Air Ltd; Boeing 747-222 marked 5N-JRM, operated by Kabo Air and a Boeing 737-500 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BLG, operated by Aero Contractors.
Presenting the report at a press conference in Abuja, the commissioner and chief executive officer of AIB-N, Mr. Akin Olateru attributed the causal factor of Gulfstream-IV aircraft serious incident which occurred at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on September 12 2018 to “delayed response by the crew to recognize that the ground spoilers and thrust reversers were locked out led to the runway overrun.”
He stated that the contributory factor was due to the delayed deployment of ground spoilers led to the flight crew’s problems in stopping the airplane within the remaining available runway length.
The report recommended among others that *The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should ensure that disabled aircraft are promptly removed from the incident site in accordance with Disable Aircraft Recovery Manual NAIA Abuja
*FAAN should ensure the Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders as stipulated in the Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) are strictly adhered to in case of any occurrence.
*FAAN should ensure that ARFFS units are adequately staffed at a level thatenables ARFFS personnel, upon arrival at an accident scene, to conduct exteriorfire-fighting activities, interior fire suppression attack and a rescue mission concurrently.
*Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) should ensure that all G-IV operators adhere strictly to normal operating procedures regarding the nutcracker system.
*NCAA should ensure that all G-IV operators, require flight crew to call-out if the ground spoilers do not automatically deploy and the thrust reversers are not deployed during landing, also a call-out when the ground spoilers have deployed, and verify they include these procedures in their checklists, and training programs. The procedures should clearly identify which pilot is responsible for making these call-outs and which pilot is responsible for deploying the spoilers if they do not automatically deploy.
*SkyBird Air Limited should ensure that all their cabin crew are adequately and properly type rated on specific aircraft to be flown by a cabin crew member in accordance with the Operations Manual.
The investigation into the serious incident involving a Boeing 747-200 aircraft owned and operated by Kabo Air which occurred at the Sultan Abubakar Airport, Sokoto on October 4, 2013 identified inappropriate visual approach profile at night with no vertical guidance as the causal factor of the incident.
It listed unserviceable visualapproachslope indicator on Runway 26 and the decision to land on the non-precision runway 26 at night as the causal factors.
The report recommended that “Kabo Air should ensure that flight recording devices (FDR and CVR) installed on all aircraft in its fleet are preserved, maintained, serviceable, and operated in accordance with the provisions of the existing Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) Parts 7.8.1.3, 7.8.1.4 (a), 8.5.1.24 (b)(c) and 8.14.10.3 (a).
The investigation into the serious incident a Boeing 737-500 aircraft operated by Aero Contractors which occurred on Runway 18R, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on April 9, 2016 linked the causal factor to excessive rudder application by the crew after touchdown.
It attributed the contributory factors were reduced visibility due heavy rain on touchdown and the decision to continue approach in an unfavourable weather condition.
The report made three safety recommendations as follows: That Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Limited should lay more emphasis during flight crew simulator trainings, on the effects of excessive rudder application at high speeds during landing roll, particularly on wet/contaminated runways.
*Aero Contractors’ management should sensitise their crew members on the necessity of reporting notifiable occurrences. *NCAA should ensure that all airline operators review their SOPs to include procedure for isolating power to the cockpit voice recorder to preserve its contents from being overwritten, in the event of any reportable occurrence.
Olateru also presented *Bulletin eport on the incident involving a Tampico Club TB-9 aircraft owned and operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) with nationality and registration marks 5N-CBG which occurred at Zaria Aerodrome, Kaduna State on 10th December, 2013;
*Bulletin report on the incident involving a Tampico Club TB-9 aircraft owned and operated by Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) with nationality and registration marks 5N-CBB, which occurred at Zaria Aerodrome, Kaduna State on 18th June, 2014;
For full details of the serious incident and bulletin reports are visit www.aib.gov.ng. You can also download AIB-N’s Mobile App on Google Play Store and IOS.
