The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) on Thursday released the report of an accident involving a Quorum Aviation Bell 206 helicopter marked 5N- BQW which crashed in the Opebi area of Lagos on August 28, 2020 killing all persons on board.
According to the report read by the AIB-N commissioner, Mr. Akin Olateru, the probable cause of the accident was fuel exhaustion at low altitude and low speed leading to loss of control in flight.
The contributory factors were the decision by the pilot to continue the flight towards the intended destination with insufficient fuel instead of landing as soon as practicable in line with section 12.12 of Quorum Aviation Limited Operations Manual Part A; lack of effective management supervision of the airline’s flight operations; and inadequate safety oversight of Quorum Aviation Limited
The AIB-N issued three safety recommendations.
It recommended for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that air operator certificate holders who wish to combine flight duties with multiple post holder positions provide it (NCAA) with comprehensive safety risk mitigation measures to ensure that safe operations can be achieved.
It also recommended for the NCAA to focus its safety oversight to ensure that the Quorum Aviation Limited takes steps to prevent further violation of its approved operating procedures and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.
Furthermore, it called on Quorum Aviation Limited to ensure that all its personnel are well acquainted with their respective schedules of responsibilities and capable of discharging their duties effectively in accordance with the company’s approved standard operating procedures.
The other reports published were those of accident involving Skypower Express Airways Nigeria Limited Air Tractor AT-401B aircraft marked 5N-BTV, which occurred on October 4, 2018; ground collision involving a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Truck with registration AKD765FK and Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Bell 412 helicopter with registration NAF 600 which took place on June 25, 2020, and the serious incident involving Skypower Express Airways Nigeria Limited Cessna 172 Aircraft with registration 5N-APE which occurred on November 19, 2019.
“The newly released reports make a total of 72 accident reports released by the Bureau since its establishment in 2007 and a total of 53 reports released since the inception of this administration.
“The reports of today contain a total of twelve safety recommendations, which are addressed to the regulatory body, the affected airlines, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) among others.
“The Bureau has now released 232 safety recommendations since inception with 151 of the recommendations released by this administration,” Olateru said.
