CAVERTON’S HAVILLAND CRASH: AIB-N Steps-in to Read, Analyze, Generate Transcription, Animation, from Burnt Cockpit Equipment
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L-R: Col. Brice Okomou, Mrs Leopoldine Essimi of Cameroon’s Ministry of Transport, team leader, Engr Akin Olateru, Commissioner, AIB-N, Mrs Mispa Samnick and Capt. Raymond Ekenglo
The world-class boutique agency, Accident Investigation Bureau-Nigeria, AIB-N, has stepped in to unravel the knotty riddle arising from the badly burnt Cockpit Voice Recorder, CVR, and the Flight Data Recorder, FDR, in the fatal crash on 11th May 2022, of a DHR-6-400 Twin Otter (registered TJ-TIM) aircraft operating Yaoundé (Nsimalen) – Dompta – Yaoundé (Nsimalen), which occurred in a forest, not far from Nanga Eboko, in Cameroon.
In the fatal accident in which no soul survived, it got the two critical elements that are sine qua non to a foolproof investigation exposed to a third-degree fire which badly damaged the CVR and the FDR and which could only be unravelled in Africa by AIB-N, second to NTSB of the United States.
At a terse media event in AIB-N headquarters in Abuja, the leader of the Cameroonians delegates, Mrs Leopoldine Essimi, of the Cameroon Ministry of Transport, said they were in Nigeria to seek from AIB-N, its “expertise in the reading of the flight recorders, transcription of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), analysis of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and FDR animation”.
Engr Akin Olateru, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, AIB-N, said Nigeria will be assisting Cameroon in the investigation with her Flight Safety Laboratory, which according to him is one of the best in the world currently.
He highlighted the capabilities of the state-of-the-art equipment in the laboratory that, it was installed with “an upgraded facility called Memory Access Retriever System (MARS), which will be deployed to retrieve information from the CVR, which was badly burnt and damaged”.
Akin Olateru further enthused, “as you are aware, we have one of the best safety laboratories in the world. We have the capability, that the United States NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) has, which is getting information from burnt or damaged flight recorders.
The AIB-N helmsman thus elucidated, “this aircraft crashed and its recorder badly burnt but we will be able to retrieve the information. This is one of the best equipment you can find in the world today.”
He however hinted that Nigeria and Cameroon “are exploring areas of cooperation and collaboration that can boost accident investigation and air safety in Africa”.
Chronicling the achievement of the petite bureau, AIB-N, Olateru said, “you will understand that this is not the first time Nigeria will be helping other nations. We have helped Sao Tome and Principe during an investigation. We helped the Gambia. We helped the Niger republic. We are helping Sierra Leone”.
Speaking further of the bureau exploits under his watch he said, “we just got approval from the Ministry of Justice to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sierra Leone to help them set up an accident investigation body. This is where we are today. “
The Cameroonian delegation comprised Mrs Leopoldine Essimi of the Ministry of Transport, team leader, Col. Brice Okomou, Capt. Raymond Ekenglo and Mrs Mispa Samnick.
Those attainments without an iota of doubt, deserve applause.
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