The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) on Saturday officially released to the public over 20 aircraft accident reports.
The reports, posted on the AIB website (www.aib.gov.ng) include the October 22, 2005 mishap of Bellview Airlines Flight 210 in Lisa, Ogun State, which killed all 117 passengers on board.
The reports also included those involving Sosoliso in Port-Harcourt airport in 2005 where over a hundred school children of the prestigious Loyola Jesuit College and a popular preacher, Bimbo Odukoya met their death.
For the Sosoliso crash, the weather reports obtained from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and the one compiled from the satellite imagery by the Boeing aircraft company (USA), showed that there was a change in the wind speed and direction when the aircraft was approaching the station.
Other reports are AIB interim report on Beechcraft 1900D accident at Bushi village in Obanlinku local government of Cross River State on march 15, 2008, report on the accident to Boeing 737 aircraft registered 5N-AUA that crashed at the new Kaduna airport on November 13, 1995, the 2008 Nigeria police force’s Bell 412 helicopter and the September 7th accident involving DHL, registration ZS-DPF, at Murtala Muhammed international airport, Ikeja, Lagos and on the accident involving Tampico club 9 aircraft, reg. 5N-CBF at Zaria, Kaduna state on October 10, 2006, among others.
The AIB had concluded its investigations on the air calamities and came up with the reports, but successive Ministers of Aviation had failed to make the reports public.
The AIB, based at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, carried out the investigations in accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act 2006, and Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations.
Hence, it stated that in accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, it is not the purpose of aircraft accident/serious incident investigations to apportion blame or liability.
It advised readers that the AIB investigates for the sole purpose of enhancing aviation safety, and consequently, “its reports are confined to matters of safety significance and should not be used for any other purpose.”
It added that, “recommendations in this report are addressed to the regulatory Authorities of the state (NCAA),” and “it is for this authority to decide what action is taken.”