The Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, Mr. Akin Olateru says the Bureau is currently at the stage of information gathering on the Quorum helicopter crash in Opebi, Lagos last week.
At a news conference in Lagos, the AIB boss said all relevant stakeholders have been notified including the aircraft manufacturer to assist with the investigation.
He disclosed that the Quorum Aviation ill-fated helicopter with its configuration do not have black boxes, that is the flight data recorder, FDR and the Cockpit Voice Recorder, CVR.
According to Mr. Olateru, absence of the FDR and CVR would not jeopardize the investigation as its has competent and well trained investigators to retrieve information about the crash from the wreckage and other components of the aircraft.
He added that, the site of the crash, communication with the Air Traffic Control, ATC, documents on the aircraft and the crew would assist in unravelling the cause of the crash.
“Without the CVR and FDR, they are not the only means of accident investigation evidence gathering, it is just one of. This aircraft is a VFR certified aircraft that means it can only fly visual, it is not a complex aircraft and this is why they are not fitted with an FDR or a CVR but there are so many other things we can gather information from that will enhance accident investigation.”
The AIB boss said from evidence so far gathered till date, the helicopter had a valid Certificate of Air Worthiness, AOC and Air Operators Certificate, AOC expected to expire before the end of 2020.
He said the reason for the news conference was to douse tension and to stop reports making the rounds about the helicopter which were misleading and capable of jeopardizing the investigation.
“This press conference is absolutely necessary because of so many information flying round, we needed to douse the tension, let people understand they are interfering and is a distraction to us and let us do our work and stop all these insinuations.”
Mr. Olateru while commending the first responders and their efforts at controlling the crowd at the scene of the crash said, it had concluded arrangements to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, to train its officers to effectively assist in the event of a crash within the State.
“It is very, very important for Government agencies to understand their limitations and role. This is why we have gone ahead to train the Nigerian Police Force, FRSC on their role in a crash site and we are going to form partnership with LASEMA because we have seen how helpful they are and their role was very, very critical in this last occurrence.”
The AIB boss assured that the preliminary report into the Bell 206B lll helicopter would be released at the end of this month.
Olaoluwa Adekunle
