ABOUT 17 months after an Embraer 120 aircraft belonging to Associated Aviation crashed less than a minute after take off at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has blamed delay on the release its final report of the crash on the inability of pathologists and coroners to submit their report.
Its Commissioner in- charge of Investigation, Air Accidents, Dr Felix Abali, said it will be unprofessional to release the final report of the accident without the input of pathologists and coroners who assisted in the course of the investigations.
The AIB boss said until this was done, the accident’s final report will not be released.
Abali however said the Bureau was expiditing action on the problem.
He said: “That takes us back to the problems we are having with coroners and pathologists. We are actually still waiting for their reports. “Accident as you know could be caused by a lot of factors; assuming that one of the crew member was drunk, how do you determine this? It is through pathological reports that you can know the true state of health of the crew members.
“If we don’t have such information, then the report is incomplete. We cannot go and publish something and leave out some aspects. “What we have been doing is that we try to come to an understanding with them. “We have been trying to write a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them.
“As a matter of fact, we just started working with one of the pathologists who basically has a lot of connections with some of the hospitals in different states. These hospitals will work with this individual who will just report to us. If that works, I think the situation would be alleviated.”
Abali assured that the sector was safe for flying despite some accidents in recent time, adding that accidents could not be eradicated in the industry rather, it could be reduced to the barest minimum.
“Aviation industry is safe globally and will always be safe. Till now, except the one that happened over Ukraine that the people know the cause of it, the other two or three, we don’t know the causes yet and I think in accident investigation, it is not always right to speculate. It doesn’t do the industry any good and it will not enhance safety in the system.
“Until the black boxes are discovered and the true causes of the accidents are known, we won’t be able to comment much on them. But, I want to emphasise here that aviation is still the safest mode of transportation anywhere in the world.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has identified obesity, sight problem and heart-related diseases as common problems affecting pilots in the country.
Its Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs Mr Samuel Adurogboye, who spke in Lagos, said mental cases was not part of the pilots’ challenges.
He said the authority carries out six-month interval medical tests on pilots, including foreign pilots operating in the country.
