The Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria (AIB-N), yesterday hinted that a total of 2,038 (1996 on board passengers and 42 on ground) lives have been lost to air crashes in the country from1969 to 2022.

The agency noted that when an aircraft accident or serious incident occurs, it is always an unexpected and mostly fatal event that causes great distress and loss to the victims and their families.

The Commissioner/CEO, AIB-N, Mr. Akin Olateru, made the disclosure at a press briefing on the International Day for the Commemoration of Air Crash Victims and their Families in Abuja.

Akin, while welcoming the aviation stakeholders to the event said: “I offer my deepest sympathy to all the survivors and families of victims of past incidents. I am truly sorry for your losses, and I know that no one can ever adequately compensate you. I want to state unequivocally, that I consider the avoidable loss of life unacceptable.

“May the souls of your departed loved ones continue to rest in peace. We understand that the aftermath of an air incident can be devastating to survivors, crash victims and their families, all of whom require support and empathy.

“In 1998, during the 32nd Session of the Assembly, ICAO considered and acknowledged the subject of aircraft accident victims and their families.

“The aim was to ensure that the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of victims involved in civil aviation accidents, and their families, are considered and accommodated by ICAO and its Member States in accordance with ICAO’s policies and guidelines.”

He revealed that families of victims experience great anguish after an air crash, especially in the absence of effective information channels from the government, or the affected airline operator, to them.

“In 2001, ICAO issued the Guidance on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families. Subsequently, in 2013, the ICAO Policy on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families was published and accompanied by a manual and the family assistance entails the provision of services and information that will address the concerns and needs of the aircraft accident victims and their families.

“The ICAO’s Policy and Manual on the Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families is contained in Doc 9998 and Doc 9973, respectively. This detailed information on ICAO’s Family Assistance policies and guidelines are available online,” he said.

Decrease in accident rates has been recorded through several activities including investigations and their safety recommendations, voluntary safety reporting, safety cultures, and Safety Management Systems (SMS).

He added that poor safety management in aviation not only damages the aircraft involved, but could also cause the avoidable loss of human lives on-board the unfortunate aircraft and, sometimes, on ground.

“This is the reason that we, at AIB-N, are determined to continue to extend the frontiers of safety in the aviation sector, as well as in the other forms of transportation. We will achieve this by aligning ourselves with global best practice in the industry, and by employing the latest technology and the most qualified personnel, to thoroughly investigate past occurrences and make the appropriate recommendations to ensure that they never occur again,” he said.

Continuing, the AIB-N boss, said that “we will ensure that we continue to review and improve our systems processes and procedures to reduce casualties associated with any transportation incidents and provide the information and other support systems necessary to fulfill our mandate.

“With the advancement of technology, it is our aim to achieve even higher safety standards and ensure even fewer fatal incidents in future and I assure you that the industry regulators and relevant authorities are committed to offering significant support but even more so to preventing the recurrence of these incidents.”

Reacting to the current controversy over flight delays, the director general of NCAA, Captain Musah Nuhu, said that the National Assembly established a committee to look into the root cause of flight delays and cancellations, remarking that we may be reacting to the symptoms without looking at the main cause of the problem.