ANALYSTS across the country’s aviation sector have been cautioned against speculating the likely cause of the recent incident involving the American based United Airline flight which made an air return to Lagos airport when the aircraft malfunctioned within the Cote D’ivoire airspace.
Giving this warning, a former director general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and a former Nigeria’s representative at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Captain Musa Nuhu, expressed optimism that the preliminary report being compiled by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) would unravel the immediate and remote causes of the serious incident.
Nuhu, who insisted that any comments on the incident would be tantamount to speculation, stressed that pilots were trained to handle all sorts of emergencies.
He expressed the confidence that the NSIB would release a very detailed report on the serious incident, which would prevent a recurrence in the future.
The former NCAA DG said that with the magnitude of injured persons onboard and the position of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13 on Accident Investigation, the United Airlines incident could be categorised as an accident, even as he still called for patience from industry experts in order not to jeopardise investigations.
His words: “Sometimes, we think we know, but when the reports come out, it is totally different from what appears to have caused the accident or incident.
“The report was that the pilot had an emergency return to Lagos and some people got injured in the process. Anything we say now is merely speculating. But, we should know that pilots are trained to handle all sorts of emergencies; we do go on refresher training every six months to review updates and practise how to handle all sorts of emergencies.
“We should avoid speculations; we should wait for the NSIB to do their proper investigations and tell us what happened. Usually, I expect them in a couple of days to come out with their preliminary report on what they think happened.
“ICAO Annex 13 on Accident Investigation, defines any aircraft accident that has serious injury or substantial damage. So, if there were serious injuries as reported and confirmed, then, this is no more an incident by the annex, rather an accident.”
Nuhu who declared that accident or incident investigations may take longer, depending on the situation,cited how an investigation into the Boeing 747 aircraft accident that occurred in Japan, took several years to be concluded by investigators.
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A United Airlines aircraft had on Friday, January 24, 2025, made an air return to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, after developing technical fault mid-air.
Following the incident, no fewer than 39 passengers and crew members aboard the Boeing 787-8 aircraft suffered varying degrees of injuries as the aircraft with registration number: N27903, made an air return to base with the onboard 245 passengers, eight flight attendants, and three pilots on board.
Though he declined comments on the controversial Abuja airport second runway project and the variation of N532 billion by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractor, he however, described the second runway as desirable for the airport because of its growing traffic and importance to the country.
“In addition to that, the traffic in Abuja is increasing. So, for more efficient operations, we need to have two runways. The projection in the next few years is that the traffic is going to be one of the biggest traffic in Nigeria and we need to plan ahead before we get there. The Abuja runway is very necessary.
“As per the contract part of it, I don’t have any comment. I don’t know what the details of the contracts are, I didn’t participate in the procurement process. It is being handled by the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). I think those are the appropriate agencies to speak on the cost”.
