Nigeria, February 21, 2018//-Less than 24 hours after the Dana Air incident at Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Port Harcourt, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has dispatched two of its investigators to Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) to commence investigation into major incident.
The investigators, it was learnt, arrived Port Harcourt yesterday morning and they are to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, AIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, confirmed the development with our correspondent at the agency’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
He also said that AIB was informed of the incident immediately it occurred by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the airline.
According to him, the agency was capable of investigating the incident, but was silent on the cause of the incident.
He said: “We have sent some of our investigators to the scene of the incident. We have commenced investigation immediately into the cause and our officials would do their work as expected from them.
“It will be too early to talk on the cause of the incident. We should not pre-empt the report. Our investigators are already there and you can be rest assured that they will carry out their duties professionally as expected from them.”
Also, a statement by Deputy Director, Press & Public Affairs, Ministry of Transport, Aviation Unit, Mr. James Odaudu, said that the incident led to the temporary closure of the airport for safety reasons, but was re-opened after proper assessment on Wednesday morning.
He explained that there was a substantial damage to the body of the aircraft and ground navigation equipment at the airport as a result of the incident.
He also confirmed that AIB had commenced investigation into the incident in accordance to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13, while NCAA has heightened safety oversight over the operator.
He added: “However, efforts are in place to continuously enhance safety and security in our industry in accordance with the reformation agenda of the Buhari administration for the aviation sector.
“The Ministry sympathises with the passengers on the aircraft over the traumatic experience and assures that government will not abdicate on its commitment to the safety and security of lives and property in the Nigerian airspace.”
Though, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the airline had attributed the incident to the heavy downpours at the airport earlier in the day.
The flight 9J0363 had departed Abuja Airport to Port Harcourt with 50 passengers on board, but overshot the runway on landing at the airport.
Before the Tuesday’s incident, Dana Air fleet had been reduced to three from the initial six about a year ago.
Just about two weeks ago, one of the emergency doors of Dana Air fell on landing at Abuja Airport while taxiing while earlier, one of its wings scraped the fence at the same airport.
Independent.ng
