By Albert Akota
The aviation safety record of Nigeria has been described as the best in Africa, with the country recording only two fatal accidents in the last ten years.
According to the Director General, Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, the country, within the period, recorded a total of nine fatalities.
He said: “In the last 10 years, there have been two fatal civil accidents, leading to the unfortunate loss of 9 souls in Nigeria”.
He spoke on “Nigeria Evolving Approach To Aviation Safety And Learning From Occurrence Investigation – The NSIB Experience”, at the 7th Aviation Africa Summit held in Abuja, Olateru,
According to him, between 2005 and 2023, 78 accidents and serious incidents have occurred in the country with four incidents in the Safety Bulletin amounting to 82 while 260 safety recommendations have been issued by his agency within the period with 12 incidents in the Safety Bulletin totalling 272 safety recommendations.
While noting that the safety recommendations, and their appreciable implementation and enforcements, he reiterated that they were largely responsible for the safety successes recorded since the inception of the current NSIB administration.
Explaining the legislative changes and transition of legislative responsibilities over the years, Olateru said: “there were 154 accidents, 46 of which were fatal between 1948 and 2005 with a total fatality of 1,445 passengers.
“Initially, Civil Aviation Department (CAD) of the Ministry of Aviation handled aviation occurrence investigation as well as Airworthiness Certification. This created a peculiar challenge of the Regulator also being the Investigator.”
