…says airline lacks SMS as required by NCARs
Posted by Sade Williams
The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) has released two preliminary reports on serious incidents involving aircraft owned and operated by Air Peace Limited and Max Air.
The Air Peace Boeing 737-500 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-BUJ was enroute Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri on 5th November, 2019 when the incident occurred at about 23,000 feet above Mean Sea Level (FL230).
The serious incident involving Max Air Boeing 747-400 aircraft with nationality and registration marks 5N-DBK occurred at Runway 05, Minna International Airport on 7th September, 2019.
In the report, which is also posted on AIB’s website, the AIB noted in its initial findings that eventhough the crew were certified and qualified to conduct the flight, the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of Max Air B747-400 was unserviceable at the time of the incident, adding that the airline does not have an approved Safety Management System as required by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations.
Other findings on Max Air aircraft includes that the crew were certified and qualified to conduct the flight; that one runway edge light was damaged while Bird strike at the edge of the radome was observed.
The AIB immediately recommended that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) should ensure that the Navigational Aids installed at all the operating airports in Nigeria are calibrated in accordance with the AIP Supplement S 38/2019
dated 10th September, 2019.
It asked the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to always ensure that there is effective control of birds and wild life during airport operating hours at Minna Airport.
On Air Peace, it says its findings includes that the pilots were qualified to fly the aircraft, adding that they took control of the flight at FL230 after the loud bang and yaw.
It noted further that the aircraft had valid Certificate of Airworthiness.
“Preliminary reports are not the final reports as they only contain details of the initial facts, discussions and findings surrounding the occurrences; which include information gathered from witness statements, flight recorders, Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) Data, Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) data, and preliminary inspection of the accident sites and the wreckages.
“Therefore, investigation on this occurrence is still ongoing and final report on the incident will be released at the conclusion of the investigation”, Tunji Oketunmbi, spokesman for the Bureau said.
He said full details of the reports can be found on its site at :
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Preliminary-Report-on-Air-Peace-5N-BUJ.pdf
https://aib.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PRELIMINARY-REPORT-ON-THE-MAX-AIR-5N-DBK-SEPT-2019.pdf
