The Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr. Akin Olateru has disclosed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the contract for mobile satellite offices for AIB – equipment which will be deployed to crash sites to speed up the investigative process. He made this known over the weekend during an oversight visit by the joint National Assembly Committee on Aviation at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.
According to the AIB boss, with the mobile satellite office at the site of any crash, it will be possible to download the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and the Flight Data Recorder immediately; saving time and improving the Bureau’s overall efficiency in the process. In his expert opinion, the Nigerian airspace is safer now due to the implementation of AIB’s safety recommendations, adding that the Nigerian aviation sector has become one of the finest in the world.
“We have grown to the point where we help nations to set up their Accident Bureaus. France just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with us. This will enable us to help the francophone countries in Africa in accident investigation. AIB has the first accredited laboratory in Africa today,” he said.
Olateru continued by revealing that AIB spends about $1 million – about N550 million – in the annual training of its technical personnel out of Nigeria. Thus, to put an end to capital flight, the Bureau has embarked on the construction of its own training school in Abuja, now on the verge of completion. He was hopeful that the facility will be commissioned in the third quarter of this year.
In his own words, “This is going to be the first of its kind in Africa, with support from Cranfield University, the United Kingdom, Singapore Transport Safety Investigation Bureau and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology. This institution will serve as a source of internally generated revenue for AIB providing an enabling study environment, four-star accommodation of thirty (30) rooms, training rooms and a 250-capacity auditorium.”
