According to the Accident Investigation Bureau, 2,038 people have died in air crashes in Nigeria during the last 53 years.
As a result, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has been entrusted with directing airlines to implement support programs for relatives of plane disaster fatalities in Nigeria.
The announcement was made by AIB’s Chief Executive Officer, Akin Olateru, in Abuja during the 2022 International Day for the Commemoration of Air Crash Victims and their Families.
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“From 1969 to 2022, a total of 2,038 lives were lost in Nigeria due to aviation crashes (1996 on board passengers and 42 on the ground),” he stated.
“When an aviation accident or significant incident happens, it is always an unexpected and, in the vast majority of cases, deadly occurrence that causes considerable anguish and loss to the victims and their families.”
Olateru pointed out that the International Civil Aviation Organization has regulations in place to assist relatives of victims of flight crashes.
Family support, he continued, meant providing resources and information to meet the concerns and needs of the plane crash victims and their relatives.
“The ICAO standards and guidelines guarantee that the victims’ and their families’ requirements are met as soon as possible,” he said.
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The AIB boss added, “I, therefore, would like to use this opportunity to recommend that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority put in place effective policies and regulations that will mandate airline operators in the country to have Family Assistance Plans as part of their emergency plan or procedure.
“The NCAA should also ensure that such assistance programmes are supervised, exercised and audited appropriately.”
Olateru, however, noted that a significant decrease in accident rates had been recorded through several activities including investigations and their safety recommendations, voluntary safety reporting, safety cultures, and Safety Management Systems.
He stated that poor safety management in aviation would not only damage the aircraft involved, but could also cause the avoidable loss of human lives onboard the unfortunate aircraft and, sometimes, on ground.
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Reacting to the recommendation of the AIB on family assistance plans for families of air crash victims, the Director-General, NCAA, Musa Nuhu, said the authority would look at the request and take the necessary action about it.
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