AIB Renovates $5.8m Fight Safety Laboratory in Abuja
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has announced that it has resuscitated its $5.8million previously unserviceable Flight Safety Laboratory equipment at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Lagos.
This is as the agency has also trained its staff on the handling of the equipment, which was constructed and equipped in 2012. The Commissioner of AIB, Akin Olateru made this known recently during the training facilitated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Singaporean government.
A statement issued by the spokesman of AIB, Tunji Oketunbi, confirmed that the equipment was now ready for usage. Olateru recalled that the management had signed a contract with a Canadian firm, CEA/Flightscape in 2011 to install state-of-the-art equipment in AIB’s new laboratory.
He explained that the laboratory was designed to download information from Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) among others, which are necessary requirements for a thorough and accurate accident investigation, adding that the facility was used to download the flight recorders of Associated Airlines’ aircraft crash of October 2013 with the assistance of the manufacturers of the laboratory despite the fact that the agency had not effected full payment.
He express regret that since that single usage in 2013, the facility had not been put to proper use due to lack of human capacity in-house to manage the laboratory, adding that there were also challenges from the manufacturer’s end.
“The summary of the matter is that the laboratory was not working when I took over as the Commissioner. I made it a priority to resuscitate the laboratory considering its importance to the discharge of AIB’s responsibilities. I galvanised all the necessary quarters to achieve this mission.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the Singaporean government agreed to help.
“First I charged our ICT compound to get the laboratory running, which they successfully did. So, I can confidently tell you that the laboratory is working. However, we need the in-house capacity to manage it and maximise the benefits of the facility. This is where ICAO has come in.”