The Federal Government through the Accident and Investigation Bureau (AIB) is set to take the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) also known as the black box recovered from the crashed Beechcraft 1900D to the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) in the United Kingdom (UK) for decoding.
The AAIB is expected to interpret the communication between the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft owned by Wings Aviation, which crashed on March 15, 2008 on its way to Bebi Airstrip, Cross River State from Lagos.
Speaking to newsmen at the Murtala Mohammed Interna-tional Airport, Lagos, yesterday, Mr. Emmanual Diala, who led the team that went to the crash site to retrieve the black box, said the Bureau had kicked off extensive activities to uncover what was responsible for the air mishap.
On the outcome of the DNA test on the three crew members on board the crashed plane, he said the Bureau had taken samples of the bodies found at the site to South Africa, where the identities of the bodies could be confirmed.
He said it was expedient that the black box was taken to Britain, where the modern instrument that would be used to decode it is available as Nigeria does not have adequate facilities to retrieve data from the black box.
�We shall be taking the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) to the United Kingdom for decoding. The result will help us find the probable cause of the accident,� he said.
On whether the military had tampered with the black box after finding it and holding on to it for some time, Diala said the military had been cooperative, adding that they gave the black box to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) who gave it to them.
As a sign that the black box had not been tampered with, he said the wire knotting on the black box was still intact.
He further noted that if anything happened to the black box, which would make deciphering impossible, the gadget had the mechanism to indicate that.
According to Diala, �The aircraft made its last call at 0805 UTC (coordinated universal time), but had earlier made a contact with Enugu control tower at 0804 UTC. At 0823 UTC, the radio operator at Bebi Airstrip called the aircraft to confirm its position but received no reply.�
He added: �After making series of contacts, the operator triggered off search and rescue system. The Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came on the scene. Some helicopters were deployed even as many man hours were expended in the search for the missing aircraft.�
As a preventive measure, Diala said: �AIB shall be issuing a safety alert very soon based on our preliminary investigation to promote safety and prevent further accident in the Bebi Airstrip in particular and the industry in general.�
He said the final report of the investigation would be made public when it is ready, noting that, �the purpose of accident investigation is not to apportion blame, but to prevent further re-occurrence�.
Local hunters from Busi village in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State had August 30, found the wreckage of the aircraft and charred human remains of the crew members.
The twin turbo prop 19-seater Aircraft with registration number 5N JAH disappeared with a three-member crew on a flight from Lagos to Bebi Airstrip, near the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The crew members were the pilot, Captain Augustine Egbedi; the co-pilot, First Officer Mohammed and a marketing executive, Ms Fubarata Jack.
Sep222008