In reaction to some media reports, the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N) has reiterated that accident report is not an attack on any institution.
It said this on the heels of some media reports on the Preliminary Report on the serious incident involving Azman Air Boeing 737-500 of January 3, 2019, in which it issued an immediate Safety Recommendation which was not implemented by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
According to the AIB-N, the reports appeared to have been misinterpreted in some media reports, thereby giving an impression that the report was an attack on the regulatory body.
It stated that while it is the statutory responsibility of the AIB-N to investigate and make safety recommendations, the Civil Aviation Authority is by law not bound to implement any or all the recommendations where it deems it either unnecessary, time barred or impracticable to do so.
“Our attention has been drawn to reports from a section of the media on the recent accident reports released by the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria.
“The Bureau had expressed in one of its reports recently published that it issued an immediate Safety Recommendation in the Preliminary Report on the serious incident involving Azman Air Boeing 737-500 of January 3, 2019, which was not actioned by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“This appeared to have been misinterpreted in some media reports, thereby giving an impression that the report was an attack on the regulatory body.
“It should be noted that while it is the statutory responsibility of the AIB-N to investigate and make safety recommendations, the Civil Aviation Authority is by law not bound to implement any or all the recommendations where it deems it either unnecessary, time barred or impracticable to do so.
“The portion of the report that stated that ‘No action from NCAA’ was therefore not an attack on the regulatory agency but a standard practice in line with ICAO Annex 13.
“It is the norm for accident investigation agency globally to put it in the final reports if the CAA agreed, disagreed or did not implement safety recommendations.
“Suffice it to say that AIB-N has good working relationship with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the two agencies are both pursuing the same goal of ensuring a robust Aviation safety regime in the country.
“This synergy has contributed to the commendable record the country has recorded so far in air safety,” the agency explained in a statement.