AIB ‘detains’ airlines’ crew

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) said yesterday that the Delta Airlines crew that flew the Airbus 330 – 200, which engine caught fire mid-air,  cannot leave the country until they obtain an incident statement from them.

AIB Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Akin Olatetu, at a news briefing in Lagos, said the airline’s flight engineers cannot carry out any repairs on the plane because it has become an equipment for investigation.

He said the AIB took step as part of its obligations to protect the aircraft under investigation.

Olateru said Delta Airlines was yet to officially report the incident to the AIB, a development he noted contravenes Nigerian laws.

According to the AIB boss, his agency and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) were collaborating on how to carry out comprehensive investigations into the cause of the engine fire.

He berated Delta Airlines for failing to notify the AIB about the incident as the country of occurrence, in line with the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Olateru said: “When you have this kind of thing, 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.

“United States (U.S.) NTSB notified us that Delta has appointed two investigators to join us and NTSB is nominating one person. Their representative too will be joining to assist us on this investigation.”

He added: “There is no competition or rivalry. For your information, I was notified by the DG of NCAA of the incident. This afternoon, we got information that their engineers want 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.”

Olateru said the AIB has a responsibility to report the incident to ICAO.

“We cannot fulfil our own obligation because this incident occurrence has not been reported to us officially by the operator.

I am in contact with my counterpart in the U.S., Mr. Dennis Jones, MD of NTSB. He agreed with me and he will make sure that Delta do the needful. So, we are expecting.”