As the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) continues its investigation into the J430 aircraft which occurred Tuesday in Lagos, the bureau is appealing to stakeholders and professionals in the aviation industry to avoid comments on the accident that may mislead the public and create unnecessary fears.
The Bureau says, speculations on the ill-fated Jabiru J430 aircraft, will not be good for the image of the industry.
This is just as NSIB assured, it would carry out a thorough investigation on the accident and release to the public workable recommendations to prevent recurrence.
The NSIB General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, in a chat with aviation journalists in Lagos insisted that it was unprofessional to make categorical statements and comments on the cause of a serious incident or an accident when the investigators were yet to make their findings public.
He warned that such speculations may ridicule the image of the country in the comity of nations and appealed to commentators on the accident to wait for the outcome of its investigation before going to the public with their personal opinions.
The NSIB spokesman said, the Bureau is unhappy particularly with some statements attributed to some of the professionals in the sector on the accident, which involved two pilots.
“As professionals, they ought to know the rules guiding accident reports and standards and recommended practices stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisations (ICAO)”.
He explained that ICAO Annex 13 outlines the processes leading to the conduct of an accident investigation, stressing that it says that preliminary report should be released within 30 days of the occurrence and final report within 12 months of the occurrence following the completion of investigation.
“People should stop all these insinuations about the immediate or remote cause of the accident. Whosoever that owns the aircraft involved in the crash doesn’t matter. This is an aviation industry, and we must not be seen to be commenting from the position of ignorance. Aviation is highly regulated, and we adhere to the standards and recommended practices of ICAO, which is the minimum”.
“Everyone should wait for NSIB to commence its investigation, come out with its preliminary and final reports, which we believe will prevent a recurrence. People should allow us to do our job. We cannot be influenced by emotions or speculations that are currently in the public space. As usual, we will be professional with our investigation and reports.”
