The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has successfully trained the first batch of 20 Police Officers for the securing of aircraft crash sites.
The police officers drawn from Airports and Special Protection Unit at the Ikeja Police Commands in Lagos after the two day exercise are expected to educate other police officers across the country on the importance of securing crash sites.
Eight police officers were trained from the airports command while another 12 were drawn from Special Unit Base 2 of the Ikeja Police Command.
The coordinator of the training, General Manager, Security and Industries AIB, Mr. Olumide Osineye, said the training was put together to provide aviation security awareness to police officers and also to explain the roles of the police at aircraft accident sites.
He said: “When an accident occurs, the wreckage is a very important entity and there are items of the aircraft that need to be preserved. Experience has shown that most of our police officers are just pulled from anywhere without any background or awareness on accident investigation.
“The danger is that when you are not aware, you will just do to the best of your limits, but when you are aware, you know the rudiments, you know the procedures and what should be avoided, protected and preserved.
He said the exercise would further enhance the performance of accident investigators in the bureau in case of an accident.
Mr. Osineye noted that the 20 police officers would be a part of the AIB’s team in case of any accident as first responders to move to the accident sites to give accident investigators the necessary support especially in securing evidences like the Flight Data Recorder, Voice Data Recorder and other relevant items that could help in unravelling the cause of an accident.
“So, the main benefit is that this category of people will be able to control an accident site so that there will not be any tampering with the evidences or critical items like the Flight Data Recorder and Voice Data Recorder and other relevant items that can help in investigation of an accident.”
He assured that the exercise would be conducted quarterly while efforts would be made to ensure that majority of police officers in the country were trained.
In case of redeployment, Osineye insisted that it would still be an added advantage to the industry as accident could occur anywhere within the country without prior notice.
“Even when they are redeployed, it is still going to be a value added because accident can occur anywhere at any location and without telling you. So, the more we train, the more we add value and the more we increase the number of people who already have awareness. If it is possible to let all the police to have the awareness, that will be fantastic”.
The second batch of the training of more police officers is scheduled to commence in Abuja in the next one week.
