The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has dismissed media report that the recent preliminary report released by the Bureau was an attack on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The General Manager, Public Affairs of the bureau, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, made this known in a statement issued in Lagos on Friday.
The bureau had expressed in one of its reports recently published that it issued an immediate Safety Recommendation in the Preliminary Report.
The report was on the serious incident involving Azman Air Boeing 737-500 of Jan. 3, 2019, which was not actioned by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Oketumbi said the report appeared to have been misinterpreted in some media reports, thereby giving an impression that the report was an attack on the regulatory body.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Oketumbi said it was 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.
The general manager said AIB-N had good working relationship with the authority while the two agencies were both pursuing the same goal of ensuring a robust Aviation safety regime in the country.
He noted that this synergy had contributed to the commendable record the country had recorded so far in air safety.
Oketumbi said the AIB-N appreciated the media and her doors were always open for clarification on any issue.
