AIB-N, LAAC move to curb human errors in air accident
By Abisola Thompson
The Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) and the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) have partnered to reduce the high rate of human errors in air accidents in the aviation industry.
Commenting on the collaboration, Mr Akin Olateru, the Commissioner of AIB-N, made the disclosure in a statement issued in Lagos on Tuesday.
TBI Africa reports that the theme of the one-day conference which will be held on Jan. 15 in Lagos is: “Preventing Human Factors In Accident Occurrences.”
Olateru said it decided to partner with LAAC because the association had in several occasions promoted air and ground safety in the industry with and robust professionalism.
The commissioner noted that some of the human factors included inadequate training for technical personnel, poor facilities, fatigue and poor communication between the cockpit and the control tower amongst others.
He said: “After an analysis of the several accident reports we have released since 2017, it has become apparent that about 75 per cent of these accidents and incidents have resulted from human factors.
“This conference is part of the fulfillment of AIB’s mandate of preventing accident occurrences and reoccurrence and public advocacy of accident situational management.
“LAAC is a dependable ally in this project, considering the various conferences that the association has held in recent years, which have impacted the industry positively.
“The conference is expected to among other things, educate airline and airport operators, aviation agency personnel, aviation reporters, accident emergency responders and other stakeholders.
“This is on measures that can help reduce human factors in air accident and incident occurrences, while equipping aviation reporters with more knowledge for accurate reportage of accident and incident occurrences.”
Olateru explained that like the majority of accidents, these aviation disasters could have been prevented if the necessary precautionary measures were put in place and observed to stop their occurrences.
The commissioner said the conference, which would be held physically and virtually, would be attended by no fewer than 300 industry stakeholders.
According to him, airline operators, airport operators, investigators, safety inspectors, pilots, engineers and Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) are expected to participate in the event.
He, however, said due to the COVID-19 protocols set out by the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) physical participation was limited to only 80 guests, while others would join the conference virtually through the Zoom network.
Also, the Secretary, LAAC Conference Planning Committee, Mr Albinus Chiedu, said that the conference was important to improve safety in Nigeria’s aviation industry.
He explained that the conference was also necessary at this time when the industry globally was just recovering from the impact of pandemic, stressing that at the peak of the disease, most aviation practitioners were out of jobs.
Chiedu explained that this would be a wakeup call to all technical personnel and promoters of airline business.
He assured that the league would continue to promote safety and security in the sector through its developmental, educative and informative journalism.
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika is expected to be the Special Guest while the Olateru will be the Lead Speaker.
Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu will be the Keynote Speaker.
