Pilot owns up for near-mishap in Jos

Lagos -  A report by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), says Arik Air pilot has accepted responsibility for a disaster that was averted at Yakubu Gowon Airport in Jos on July 14.

The preliminary investigation report issued on Wednesday and signed by Capt. Muhtar Usman, the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of AIB, stated that the  pilot accepted responsibility for the incident.

An Arik Airline Boeing 737-700 with registration No 5NMJI on a routine flight, brushed the wing of a parked Nigerian Air Force C-130 (NAF 917) on July 14.

The report says there was damage to the two aircraft, but there was no injury or casualty.

`` It was raining at the time of the incident, the Arik Air pilot had an entry point into Runway 10 opposite where he was parked, but decided to use the other entry.

``The captain of Arik Air aircraft confirmed that when he tried to look out, rain had covered his window, ‘’ the report stated,.

The report said the aircraft was properly cleared to taxi to runway while it was raining, adding that during taxing , the aircraft winglet hit the wing of a parked Air Force C-130 aircraft which was at the fourth parking slot during the impact.

The report said the impact of the near collision made a portion of the winglet of Arik aircraft to be embedded in the wing structure of the parked Air Force plane.

African aviation ministers, experts and other stakeholders are currently meeting in Abuja to address safety in air transportation on the continent.

Stella Oduah, the Minster of Aviation, who opened the conference, said that Nigeria agreed to host it with a strong conviction that the nation has worked hard to sustain safety in the industry.

 ``It is with a strong conviction that as a nation, we have worked so hard to reposition our aviation industry in the last five years through a comprehensive safety reform agenda which focused on re-certification of the industry and resuscitation of aviation infrastructure.

 ``However, the two recent air accidents involving two Nigerian carriers show that safety is not a destination but process which requires continuous enhancement,’’ she noted at the conference.