We stand by our findings on crashed chopper – AIB

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigeria on Tuesday said it stood by its preliminary findings on the crashed Quorum Aviation Helicopter of August 28, 2020, which killed three crew members in the Opebi area of Lagos.

The bureau had on Monday released the preliminary report where it noted, among others, that the deceased’s pilot had no valid medical and proficiency certifications, claims which the company rejected.

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AIB also said there was no evidence to show that an application for the exemption provided by AOL DG018/20 had been submitted to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

But the Managing Director and Accountable Manager, Quorum Aviation Limited, Abiola Lawal, said seven days to the expiration of the pilot’s proficiency, the company wrote a letter to the Director-General of NCAA on August 18, 2020, requesting the extension and exemption.

However, AIB said that it stood by its findings while challenging the operator to provide concrete evidence of the letter purportedly written and submitted to the NCAA for exemption and extension as regards the proficiency license of the pilot seven days to expiration.

Spokesman of AIB, Mr Tunji Oketunbi in a statement explained that the letter did not bear any of the normal markers of a letter which had passed through the official process of the regulatory body.

According to the AIB, the letter had no official stamps or proof of receipt by the NCAA.

“Furthermore, the operator has not shown the response of the NCAA to this purported application, nor have they tendered evidence of the approval of their request for extension/exemption,” it said.

AIB said the objective of its investigations was to improve aviation safety by determining the cause(s) and contributory factor(s) of an occurrence and to issue targeted safety recommendations to forestall future recurrence.

The bureau insisted that while it stands by the preliminary findings, it is “Currently focused on unearthing the cause(s) of this crash which is the first air transport fatality recorded in Nigeria in over four years.”