By Louis Ibah
About 1,312 lives have so far been lost to various air accidents in Nigeria, according to statistics from the Aviation Round Table (ART). The ART data indicated that about 10 tragic air accidents had occurred in Nigeria since 1969 and that the sector lost an average of 27 lives per annum to air disaster.
President of ART, Mr. Gbenga Olowo, who also spoke at the 13th Akwaaba African Travel Market 2017 held in Lagos yesterday, observed that at least 80 per cent of air crashes in the sector could be attributed to human errors.
According to Olowo, in 1969, a Nigerian Airways aircraft, VC 10, from London to Lagos crashed with 87 fatalities. The accident, he said, was caused by pilot’s error.
Also, in 1973, another Boeing 707 aircraft of the same airline crashed with 176 fatalities. The aircraft had a landing gear problem before it crashed.
Another crash in 1991, involving a DC8 aircraft, which crashed as a result of pilot error and tyre pressure, had 261 souls on-board, while in 1995, a B737 crashed due to pilot’s error with 11 souls on-board.
He added: “Also, in 1996, a B727 with 144 souls, crashed in Nigeria because of poor Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) separation. This was followed by a Bellview airlines aircraft crash in 2005 on its way to Abuja from Lagos with 108 souls on-board. The report said the crash was due to several factors. In the same 2005, another aircraft belonging to Sosoliso Airlines crashed with 108 passengers and crew members on-board. The crash occurred due to pilot’s error.
“In 2006, the Nigerian aviation industry witnessed another major air crash with 96 fatalities and like most of the previous ones, it was due to pilot error while in 2012, the Nigerian aviation was once again thrown into mourning mood when a Dana Air aircraft, MD 83, crashed few minutes to the Lagos Airport from Abuja.
In all, 163 people perished both on board and on the ground. The reasons were engine failure and pilot error,” he added.
Head, Public Affairs, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, who spoke at the 13th Akwaaba African Travel Market 2017 held in Lagos yesterday, however, said the ugly trend or spate of air crashes of the past had been halted and that Nigeria was now benefitting from safe sky, especially after the triple air crashes of 2005 and 2006. He said the industry in Nigeria had also witnessed relative stability due to the contribution of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
“The report of accident investigations has influenced safety in the industry, not only in Nigeria but the industry as a whole. ICAO needs to be commended too because safety is not a one man show. ICAO is working with Nigeria, AIB and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to promote safety in the industry and gaps, which were hitherto opened are now being closed,” Oketunbi said.