By Louis Ibah
The Accident and Investigation Bureau (AIB), is to fly out the engine of the crashed private jet that eventually led to the death of former Governor of Taraba State, the late Dambaba Suntai, to the manufacturer in North America for teardown and commencement of investigations into the cause of the accident.
The Commissioner of AIB, Mr. Akin Olateru, disclosed this to journalists yesterday at the agency’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, lamenting that the investigation is coming almost five years after the air crash occurred due to the paucity of funds to freight the aircraft engines and other essential parts abroad. The accident happened on October 25, 2012.
He explained that the teardown of the engine was necessary in order to determine the state of the aircraft’s engine before the plane went down in Yola.
Suntai and five of his aides were, on October 25, 2012, involved in an air crash after their private plane, Cessna 208 aircraft marked 5N-BMJ, crashed in Yola, Adamawa State capital.
Suntai, who did not recover from the crash, died in the United States on June 28, 2017.
Said Olateru: “We are about to take the aircraft engine that involved the former and late Governor of Taraba State, Mr. Dambaba Suntai, in 2012 abroad. We are planning to send the aircraft engine back to the manufacturer for what we call engine teardown.
“It is one of the processes of accident investigation. Just to ship an engine abroad is a challenge. All these, we have to back it. Investigation is still on because there is no money to ensure we check the engine that it was in right condition before the crash,” he added.
The late governor was said to be piloting the small aircraft at the time of the incident. The plane allegedly hit the ground behind the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot along Yola-Numan Road at about 7pm.
Suntai who got his Private Pilot License (PPL) at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), was certified for visual flight, which is from 6am to 6pm, but still flew the aircraft at 7pm when it crashed.