The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has reassured Nigerians that despite recent global air accidents, the country’s airspace remains safe for domestic travel.
NSIB’s Director General, Captain Alex Badeh Jr., backed this claim with statistics, noting that in the past week, airlines such as Air Peace, Ibom Air, Aero Contractors, and Arik collectively transported at least 63,083 passengers without any recorded incidents.
Naija News reports that this reassurance comes amid global aviation concerns following incidents such as the recent collision between a Delta Airlines plane and a Japan Airlines aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Additionally, last Wednesday’s mid-air collision over the Potomac River claimed 67 lives, while a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash in South Korea last December resulted in 175 fatalities.
Nigeria has also witnessed some aviation incidents, including a Max Air aircraft’s nose-wheel damage at Kano’s Mallam Aminu International Airport and an emergency landing by a United Airlines flight departing Lagos for Washington in January.
However, speaking on Channels TV’s Morning Brief, Badeh emphasized that Nigeria has not recorded any major loss of life in recent times, aside from a helicopter crash in Bonny last year.
He said, “I can confidently say our airspace is safe. I can see how it could be disconcerting with the increase in incidents. And unfortunately, it just so happened that, you know, between December and now, there has just been a rash of crashes. You know, when it rains, it pours, they say.
“But I am still confident that aviation and the Nigerian airspace, by and large, is fairly safe. As you have seen, with all the incidents we have had here, there has been no major loss of life, barring the helicopter crash in Bonny last year.”
Badeh further highlighted that the Nigerian aviation sector continues to maintain high safety standards, and while occasional incidents occur, they do not indicate a systemic failure.
“You know, we aim for zero fatalities, or to get to our destination safely but occasionally, these things happen. You know, I am not going to sugarcoat it here and say there are no slight issues.
“There are issues here with the human factors and all that. But inherently, our aviation industry is safe, and aviation around the world, by and large, is safe. I would use statistics. You know, it is more statistics than anything.
‘’You look at the number of people flying all around the world, the number of airplanes in the air at any given time, and you correlate that with the number of crashes or incidents or fatalities. You would see compared to the roads, or maritime, or even rail, it is inherently safer.”
“How many people do the trains carry in Nigeria, vis-a-vis their accidents and incidents? Whereas with aviation, I mean, airplanes, each airplane, on average, seats about 80 people, and you have at least five between Abuja and Lagos, any given hour.
‘’In the past seven days, Air Peace flew 38,983 passengers. Next was Ibom Air, 10,200, Aero, 7,300, Arik, 6,600. You see it is a large number,” he added.
The NSIB remains committed to ensuring the safety of air travelers and working with relevant authorities to uphold global aviation standards in Nigeria.
