Louis Ibah
The Nigerian Accident and Investigation Bureau (AIB) says it has taken possession of Delta Airline Flight DL 55, an Airbus 330-200 aircraft and also prevented her crew from leaving the country following a breach of the Nigerian law.
The AIB said Delta Air Lines, owners of the aircraft and the crew, failed to notify relevant regulatory authorities in Nigeria nor explain what led to the fire incident which occurred on one of the aircraft’s engine on the night of Tuesday forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Five Nigerians sustained serious injuries from the incident and are currently receiving treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. No life was however lost.
Commissioner for the AIB, Mr. Akin Olateru, who briefed journalists in Lagos, expressed serious disappointment with the management of Delta Airlines for its disrespectful treatment of the Nigerian agency and the country’s civil aviation laws.
Said Olateru, “Unfortunately, up until 3pm, this afternoon (Wednesday), Delta Air Lines has refused to notify the Nigerian AIB as to this serious incident in accordance with the law of our country.
But they have notified the US, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) but as at 3:00p.m. today, there is still no notification from Delta.
” We have an obligation to notify the International Civil aviation Organisation (ICAO) on this serious incident. This is a serious incident and by law we are investigating it. There is what they call Country of Occurrence and Nigeria is the Country of Occurrence of this incident.
“Yes, Delta Air Lines is a US carrier, US operator, US-registered aircraft, but there are certain state protocols which have to be respected that gives right of investigation to the Country of Occurrence, except the Country of Occurrence decides to cede that investigation to Country of Operator or any other country.
“I am disappointed in Delta Air Lines for not respecting our own nation and laws of the land. It is totally unacceptable, and we condemn it in its totality and I believe the way I see it we are being undermined which is not acceptable.
“I have been in contact with my counterpart in the US, Mr. Dennis Jones, Managing Director of NTSB. He agreed with me and he will make sure that Delta do the needful. So, we are expecting them.
“When you have this kind of situation, we take possession of the aircraft and nobody goes near it. The aircraft is under safety investigation. That is what is required by law but until they make a formal report, then we are expecting them.
“I was made to understand they have appointed two investigators to work with us and they should be arriving this afternoon.
“This afternoon, we got information that their engineers wanted to work on the aeroplane and we made it clear to them that it is a ‘No, No’. We told them that nobody should go near the aircraft. The best we can do is to safeguard it. Security people are guarding the aircraft.
“I have insisted that we must interview the crew. We need to know what happened. I got a call too that they want to travel and told them they cannot leave. We have a responsibility. They are still in Nigeria.
“I have made it clear to them, they cannot go until we take their statement. We have an obligation under the law and we are here to defend that obligation. What Delta has done is to satisfy their own regulations and laws by reporting to their NTSB and failing to respect our own law and regulations,” Olateru added.
