Accident: Emergency response, rescue infrastructure not optimal, NAAPE
Following the crash of a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter with registration 5NBQG and operated by East Wind Aviation near Bonny Finima in the Atlantic Ocean in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, the umbrella body of pilots in Nigeria has called on the federal government to upgrade emergence response and rescue infrastructure in the country’s aviation sector.
The body also demanded that its members be enlisted among investigating panels as it is obtained in other parts of the globe.
The National President of National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Engr. Abednego Galadima made the call at a one symposium organised by NAAPE with the theme “The Imperative of Unionization in a Struggling Economy” in Abuja.
The ill-fated aircraft was en-route from Port Harcourt Military Base (DNPM) to the NUIMANTAN oil rig when it ditched into the waters with eight souls on board that are all now confirmed as fatalities, according to the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
Speaking while delivering his opening remarks at the event, the NAAPE President affirmed that though the union was not attempting to pre-empt the report of the investigating panel into the cause of the crash, but that from what they gathered, infrastructure for emergency response and rescue were not optimal.
Speaking of the accident in which it lost it Vice President, helicopter wing and captain of the aircraft, Captain Yakubu Dukas, Abednigo said “Without preempting the investigation that is ongoing, we want to urge the government to ensure that infrastructure for emergency rescue and response during accidents is top notch.
From what we have gathered, it wasn’t optimal. We also want to call on the government to ensure that no stone is left unturned in investigating to see to the fact that every cause, both remote and distant cause of this accident is identified, the aim is to forestall future occurrences.”
He added that “It is important that while we await what the NSIB will come with, we also want to call on government as it is done in other climes that NAAPE be given an opportunity to have a representative on the investigation panel so that we can participate in the investigation from the beginning to the end of the exercise.”
