Kaduna crash: Accident investigators begin analysis of black box

Investigators from the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB-N) have commenced investigations into the fatal crash of the Nigerian Air Force NAF203 Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft that claimed the lives of its 11 occupants, including the country’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, his aides, and the flight crew.

The plane crash-landed at the Kaduna International Airport, Friday on its way from Abuja, following inclement weather at the airport. 

The Nigerian Air Force Saturday gave the AIB the green light to lead the investigation into the crash just as the AIB confirmed that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the accidented Beechcraft 350 aircraft have been recovered and investigation has commenced.

General Manager of Public Affairs of the agency, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, stated  that investigators will download and analyse vital information contained in the recorders at the AIB-N’s world class Flight Safety Laboratory, in Abuja.

He said the mandate given to AIB-N is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the investigative agency and NAF signed on July 1, 2020 covering areas of mutual assistance. 

AIB investigators, alongside their counterparts from the military unit are expected to comb the site of the accident for clues from the debris of the aircraft that could help unravel the immediate and remote causes of the crash. 

Investigators will also rely on eyewitness accounts of how the plane went down if any, as well as go through the aircraft history of flight operations and maintenance records. 

The analysis of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), which preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) that preserves the recent history of the sounds in the cockpit, including the conversation of the pilots with the control tower will give investigators the objective documentation of the aircraft’s flight history, which will assist them in the investigation.

Conventionally, the AIB has no authority or responsibilities over the operations of military aircraft because they are not regulated by CARs. 

Military aviation globally has its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) just like the military and civil aviation are not guarded by the same regulations and oversight anywhere, experts said. 

However, our correspondent gathered that the military decided to seek the support of AIB because of its capability to assist in the investigation process based on the existing MoU between the two agencies and the outcome of the investigation will only be for the NAF consumption and not for the public. 

The NAF hitherto has four of the Beechcraft Super King Air 350 aircraft in which the Chief of Army Staff died on Friday. 

They include NAF201, NAF202, NAF203 and NAF204.

 In a February 2021 accident, the NAF201 with 8 air force personnel crashed in Abuja and killed all 8 occupants. 

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