By CrossRiverWatch admin
Seven years after the crash of a Beechcraft 1900D aircraft in Obudu, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has released the final report of the investigation carried out on four air accidents that occurred in the Nigerian airspace within the period.
The report is coming seven years after the accident had occurred. According to the final report, which was made available on AIB website, the Beechcraft 1900D with registration 5N-JAH belonging to Wings Aviation Services Air which was to chartered by the outgoing governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke for official engagement crash landed in the thick forest of Bushi leaving three crew members dead.
Though the report failed to give details of the cause(s) of the crash, he however stated that the investigation identified two casual and three contributory factors and made five safety recommendations.
Imoke had at different fora did thanks giving to God for spearing his life and those of his aides.
AIB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Felix Abali, who signed the report said its outcome is not to apportion blame to any individual or stakeholder involved in the crash but to make recommendation against future occurrence and for air safety purposes.
He said: “At the Accident Investigation Bureau we are committed to enhancing aviation safety by conducting thorough and unbiased investigations into aircraft accidents and serious incidents.
“We are currently working hard to release more accident reports in the shortest possible time. Analyzing the Wing Aviation air craft which crashed 7 years ago in Cross River state, the report revealed:
“The Beech 1900D registered as 5N-JAH and operated by Wings Aviation Limited as flight TWD 8300, which was on a revenue positioning flight on 15th March 2008 crashed at about 0920 hours in mountainous terrain at Bushi Village, Obalinku Local Government Area of Cross River State.
“The investigation identified two casual and three contributory factors and made five safety recommendations. The Bureau had on 29 March, 2009 issued an interim report on the accident.
The report also added that the Bristow Helicopters’ Cessna Citation 560XLS, registered 5N-BMM departed Lagos at 1856 hours for Port Harcourt on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and estimated Port Harcourt at 1940 hours.”
The Beechcraft 1900 with three crew members on board got missing on March 15 2008.
It was declared missing hours after it should have landed at Obudu, Cross River State.
The aircraft belonging to Wings Aviation took off at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 7.30am.
The pilot of the plane, Captain Augustine Egbedi, his co-pilot, Captain Tanko and another occupant said to be Miss Tuberata A., were all declared dead.
Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turbo prop fixed wing aircraft manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company (now Textron Aviation). It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport and by the United States military and other governments.
The aircraft is designed to carry passengers in all weather conditions from airports with relatively short runways.
It is capable of flying in excess of 600 miles (970 km), although few operators use its full-fuel range. In terms of the number of aircraft built and its continued use by many passenger airlines and other users, it is one of the most popular 19-passenger airliners in history.