The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) yesterday released three reports of the accidents involving Max Air’s B747 with registration 5N-DBK which occurred on September 6, 2019; Azman Air’s B737-500 with registration 5N-AIS and Nigerian Police Airwing, Cessna Citation 560 XLS aircraft as well as Azman Air Service Limited, As part of its safety recommendations, the AIB stated that Azman Air Services Limited should implement fully the Flight Data Monitoring programme as stipulated in 2.2.5 of the Azman Air Safety Management System Manual, including holding regular FDM meetings and timely corrective actions on the anomalies identified in FDM reports. Included in the reports are 20 safety recommendations addressed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, among others.
The released reports make it a total of 75 aircraft accident reports released by the bureau since its establishment in 2007 and a total of 56 reports released by the current administration from 2017 to date. On the Azman Air flight, which got seven safety recommendations, and one immediate recommendation directed to the NCAA, the AIB said the casual factor as a result of the failure of number 4 and 5 bearings of engine number 2 leading to loss of power during the approach of the aircraft.
Contributory factors, according to the AIB, include failure to recognise the abnormal engine conditions (surge) during the cruise phase and hence, not making the appropriate decisions.
