The Director General of Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, disclosed that there were 78 aviation accidents and four severe incidents in Nigeria between 2005 and 2023.
According to him, Nigeria’s aviation safety record stands out as the best in Africa, boasting just two fatal accidents in the past decade.
Additionally, he mentioned that NSIB has issued approximately 260 safety recommendations between 2005 and 2023, with an additional 12 incidents covered in the Safety Bulletin, bringing the total safety recommendations to 272.
He reiterated that the notable implementation and enforcement of safety recommendations have played a significant role in the safety achievements observed under the current NSIB administration.
He participated as a speaker during the 7th Aviation Africa Summit held in Abuja.
He said: ‘In the last 10 years, there have been two fatal civil accidents leading to the unfortunate loss of 9 souls in Nigeria.’
‘Between 2005 and 2023, 78 accidents and serious incidents have occurred in the country with four incidents in the Safety Bulletin amounting to 82 while 260 safety recommendations have been issued by his agency within the period with 12 incidents in the Safety Bulletin totalling 272 safety recommendations.’
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Clarifying the legislative changes and change of legislative obligations over the years, Olateru said: ‘there were 154 accidents, 46 of which were fatal between 1948 and 2005 with a total fatality of 1,445 passengers.’
‘Initially, the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) of the Ministry of Aviation handled aviation occurrence investigation as well as Airworthiness Certification. This created a peculiar challenge of the Regulator also being the Investigator.’
‘How could the Regulator be expected to objectively investigate herself and hold herself accountable in cases where contributing causes of occurrences were traced to poor or non-existent regulatory oversight function and enforcement by her?’
‘It was becoming clear that we had to re-jig our Aviation safety regulations and Accident Investigation and bring them to par with relevant ICAO annexes and international best practices.’
He stated that NSIB has transformed into a symbol of the progressing approach to aviation safety, focusing on deriving lessons from incident investigations, thus contributing to safer skies in Nigeria
He outlined the evolving approach, which consists of key elements such as the division of investigative and regulatory functions, the empowerment of NSIB (the Investigator) with autonomy and investigative independence, and a strong emphasis on expeditiously releasing accident reports.
Amongst the rest are: Synergy between Regulator (NCAA) and Investigator (NSIB) in the monitoring and enforcement of Safety Recommendations, MOUs for collaboration with neighboring countries to help with investigations, and sharing of facilities and information.