Ime Akpan
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) as released the final report on the incident involving a ground collision between a lavatory service truck with fleet number 9/5 operated by Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc (SAHCO) and a stationary Boeing 737-300 aircraft marked 5N-DAB operated by Max Air Limited which occurred at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on November 21, 2021.
Presenting the report in Abuja at the weekend, the director general of the bureau, Capt Alex Badeh Jr said SACHO’s ground support equipment (GSE) driver, attending to another aircraft when he was called upon to service the Max Air aircraft.
After positioning the truck with the aid of the ground handling company’s marshaller, the driver realised that his hands could not reach the aircraft lavatory drain valve and requested the marshaller to guide him to reposition the truck closer to the aircraft.
To move the truck by reversing, the driver stepped on the throttle pedal instead of the brake pedal, and the truck impacted the aircraft’s tail section.
While he traced the accusatory factor of the incident to the abrupt stepping on the throttle pedal instead of the brake pedal, the report said “less than adequate ramp supervision/coordination of SAHCO’s GSE operations” was one of the contributory factors.
Other contributory factors include “inadequate workforce in the operation of SAHCO’s ramp activities in handling more than one aircraft simultaneously, non-compliance with various sections of operational and ground operation manuals, lack of standard procedure for changing duties from one unfinished task to another and inaccurate marshalling of the GSE truck the first time while positioning to service Max Air aircraft and impatience on the part f the truck driver after requesting to reposition.
The bureau recommended that SAHCO Plc should ensure adherence to the provision section19 (1) of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2019 regarding tampering with evidence which is now section 3.5 of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations, 2023.
It also recommended that the company should ensure adherence to its Standard Operating Procedures and provisions in its manuals including sections section 3.3.4 and 3.5.2 and section 7.1.3.5 and 7.1.3.6 of its Ground Operations Manual.
Besides, it recommended that the ground handling company should ensure availability of adequate manpower at the ramp to cater for different operations occurring simultaneously as well as ensure that its operations are well coordinated and adequately supervised.
