NAAPE calls for upgrade of emergency response, rescue infrastructure

Following the crash of a Sikorsky SK76 helicopter with registration 5NBQG and operated by East Wind Aviation near Bonny Finima in the Atlantic Ocean in Port Harcourt, Rivers state,

The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE),  the umbrella body of pilots in Nigeria has urged the federal government to upgrade emergency response and rescue infrastructure in the country’s aviation sector.

The association made the call following the recent crash of Sikorsky helicopter into the Atlantic Ocean on October 24, 2024 near Bonny, Finima in Rivers State killing all the eight people onboard.

Speaking at a one day symposium organised by NAAPE with the theme: “The Imperative of Unionisation in a Struggling Economy” in Abuja, the national President of the association, Comrade Abednego Galadima, equally made case for the involvement of a member of the association as a representative in accident/incident investigation panels as obtained in other climes.

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Galadima, who though said he was not trying to preempt the cause of the ongoing investigation into the helicopter crash, hinted of an alleged information that the lack of optimal infrastructure for emergency response and rescue when the accident occurred was suspected to be one of the causes of the tragedy.

Commenting on the accident which claimed the live of the association’s Vice President, Captain Yakubu Dukas, who happened to be the Captain of the helicopter, Galadina declared: “Without preempting the investigation that is ongoing, we want to urge the government to ensure that infrastructure for emergency rescue and response during accidents is top notch.

“From what we have gathered, it wasn’t optimal. We also want to call on the government to ensure that no stone is left unturned in investigating to see to the fact that every cause, both remote and distant of this accident is identified. The aim is to forestall future occurrences.

“It is important that while we await what the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) will come up with, we also want to call on government as it is done in other climes that NAAPE be given an opportunity to have a representative on the investigation panel so that “we can participate in the investigation from the beginning to the end of the exercise.”