The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released a preliminary report on the serious incident involving a Boeing 737-500 marked 5N-BQM and operated by Med-View Airline which occurred on July 23, 2019.
It would be recalled that the Abuja-Lagos flight which had 34 persons on board inclusive of two pilots and four cabin crew members had a serious incident mid-air which prompted the crew to deploy oxygen masks and embark on emergency descent procedure at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos
AIB said in the interim report that it became aware of the occurrence from the news media on July 23 and despatched a team of investigators to the apron where the aircraft was parked.
According to the agency, initial findings showed that
*The flight crew were certified and qualified to conduct the flight in accordance with applicable regulations.
*The captain was the pilot flying while the first officer was the pilot monitoring.
*The aircraft had a valid certificate of airworthiness.
*The flight was the second sector for the day.
*MEV2105 was number 7 in sequence for the approach to Runway 18L due to closure of Runway 18R.
*The crew experienced loss of pressurization on descent and requested for priority landing without initially disclosing the nature of the emergency.
*The passenger oxygen mask automatically deployed.
*According to the flight crew, the cabin altitude warning horn sounded on descent.
*At about 15:07h, the aircraft landed safely on runway 18L.
*The aircraft taxied to the apron and the passengers disembarked.
*At the time investigators arrived, the aircraft had been parked at the MM2 apron and maintenance evaluation had been completed.
*The CVR recordings of the occurrence were overwritten.
*During the post incident inspection by the Bureau’s safety investigators, the passenger oxygen switch was found in the ‘NORMAL’ position with its wire lock broken.
*The Bureau became aware of the occurrence from news media and the incident was not reported to the Bureau as required by regulation 13(1) of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2019.
It stated that “the purpose of this preliminary report is to provide details of initial facts, discussions and findings surrounding the occurrence; it includes information gathered from witness statements and a preliminary inspection of the aircraft.”
It added that the investigation was ongoing.
Details of the report are available at https://aib.gov.ng/reportaccident/preliminary-report-on-the-serious-incident-involving-boeing-737-500-aircraft-owned-and-operated-by-med-view-airline-with-registration-marks-5n-bqm/
