NSIB Retrieves Cockpit, Flight Data Recorders From Delta Highway Aircraft

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, has recovered and secured the cockpit voice recorder, CVR, and flight data recorder, FDR, from the Bombardier Challenger CL-601 aircraft that made an emergency landing on a highway in Delta State on June 10.

According to Guardian and Punch, the NSIB, in a statement by its Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Funke Adebayo-Arowojobe, said the private jet, with registration number N989BC and operated by VMO Aero Limited, made an emergency landing on a highway near Asaba during a flight from Lagos.

The bureau said its emergency response procedures were activated immediately after the incident, with an investigative team deployed to the site. The recovered CVR and FDR will be subjected to detailed analysis to determine the cause of the incident. Investigators are also obtaining relevant operational, maintenance and air traffic control records.

Director-General of the NSIB, Alex Badeh Jr., said the bureau acted promptly following the June 10 occurrence and that the recorders were critical to establishing the facts. He added that no fatalities or serious injuries were reported. The investigation is being conducted under the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations and ICAO Annex 13.

For Nigeria’s aviation sector, the retrieval is a key step in understanding what went wrong during the highway landing, and the bureau has appealed to anyone with photographs, video, or eyewitness information to come forward.

Sources: Guardian; Punch