Kenneth Ehigiator
6 September 2008
Cross River — Logistic problems yesterday disrupted the continued search for the black boxes of the missing Beechcraft 1900D plane which crashed at Busi village, Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) of the Air Transport Ministry had last Wednesday mobilised its men to the crash site, shortly after the wreckage of the plane was discovered, in search of the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) but aborted the search due to bad weather.
The investigators were to have reported back to the crash site yesterday but could not because of the breakdown of the chopper of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) used for their movement to the crash site.
AIB spokesman, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, told Saturday Vanguard that further investigation at the crash site had to be halted temporarily, as there was no means of conveying the agency's investigators to the crash site.
He said the investigators were only expected to be flown back to the site late afternoon yesterday to continue the investigation.
"Due to the breakdown of the chopper of NEMA which our men are using to access the crash site, they could not go there early yesterday. But they have since gone this afternoon and we expect to hear from them much later in the day," Oketunbi said.
He had last Thursday told newsmen that the AIB hoped to discover the black boxes, since they are very vital to the investigation.
The FDR will help the investigators to ascertain the working of the engines of the aircraft, including speed, altitude, amongst others, while the CVR will provide an insight into the conversation between the pilot and his first officer as well as between them and the control tower.
The Beechcraft 1900D was declared missing with three crew members on board on March 15, 2008, while on its way to Bebi Strip, Obudu, having taken-off at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos to pick Cross Rivers State governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, to Abuja.
The disappearance of the plane sparked off controversies about what could have happened to the plane, as so many scenarios were played up, especially as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had recant on its earlier claim that the wreckage had been found.
One of such scenarios was the fact that the aircraft might have been shot down by security men who may have considered it an enemy plane, and this prompted the federal government to send a delegation to the Cameroonian government to request permission for search and rescue for the missing plane to be extended to its territories, especially as Cameroun shares common border with Obudu, where the pilot was said to have lost contact with the control tower at Bebi Strip.
The delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Madueke, were reportedly snubbed by the Cameroonian government.
The option to interface with the authorities in Cameroun came on the heels of the declaration of the Cross Rivers State government that it was giving up on search and rescue for the missing aircraft.
Following this declaration, the federal government also set up a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the air plane.
The committee, chaired had Air Vice Marshal S.A. Atawodi and Group Captain N.S. Kanwai as secretary, while other members included Senior Special Assistant to the President on Aviation, Capt. Shehu Usman Iyal, Group Capt. John Obakpolor of Aviation Round Table, Director of Operations, Accident Investigation Bureau, Capt. M.I. Usman.
Mr. Abu Lili of the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) was also a member of the committee which had since submitted its report to the president.
The crew included the pilot, Capt. Augustine Egbedi, the first officer, Mohammed Tongo and cabin crew, Miss Fubarata Jack, and remains of some of the crew members found at the crash site have been taken to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for forensic analysis.
Although search for the 19-seat capacity plane had been on in the last six months, the wreckage was only last Saturday found by hunters at Busi village, who notified the chairman of Obanliku local government council, who in turn, alerted the state government and relevant government agencies of the development.
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