NSIB and benefits of being proactive during emergencies

About two weeks ago, the country’s aviation sector and Nigeria at large received the terrible news about the tragic crash of a Sikorsky helicopter belonging to Eastwind Aviation which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny, Finima in Rivers State.

The helicopter marked 5N BQG, according to the information released by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) which had eight people comprising six passengers and two crew onboard, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while transporting the  victims.

Sadly, after frantic efforts put up daily by the relevant agencies led by the NSIB, seamless information about the issues surrounding the accident were regularly being rolled out in order to avoid any misrepresentation.

According to the NSIB daily reports, between October 24, 2024 when the crash occurred and now, five of the eight bodies of the victims had been recovered while debris of the ill-fated helicopter has been located.

The NSIB and its entire team are still not resting on their oars as they continue to comb the area as far as even involving officials from neighboring Cameroon in search of the remaining three bodies.

It is also on record that the Director General of NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Juniour with the chairman, House of Representatives committee on aviation, Abiodun Akinlade had physically visited the site of the accident, with the promise from government to ensure transparent and thorough inquiry into the unfortunate crash.

While all hands are on deck with hope very high for the quick recovery of the remaining three victims and the subsequent reports from the NSIB that will unravel the remote cause(s) of the crash, there are some activities that have unfolded since the accident occurred which can be traced to why the news regarding the helicopter crash have been well-managed without any misinformation or suspicion.

Without doubt, the accident created confusion in the sector based on the hitherto high safety record that has permeated the air transport sector in the country.

As expected, in times like, this though not peculiar to Nigeria, people tend to push out different falsehood reports as  being causes of such accidents which in most cases have not only been farther from the truth, but  hinder investigations into the accident or incident.

The ability of the NSIB to prevent this falsehood through the constant information it churned out about the series of efforts made and still beIng made right from the day of the accident, brought about the seamless management of the accident as difficult as it is.

NSIB has kept the information following leaving no room for any falsehood in this era of different social media platforms which people use to disseminate news for different reasons.

There is nothing as good as releasing information timely as it engenders transparency, hence any attempt to withhold information particularly during emergency, often leads to assumptions, misinterpretations, hinders effective communication, prevent a clear understanding and cause confusion.

It is therefore commendable as NSIB has been able to excel in this area where not many agencies of government, including the top government officials across the different arms, have done well.

While the different government agencies have been getting away with the dangerous act, this cannot be the case in aviation where a minute of delay in giving out prompt information is capable of causing regrettable consequences.

It is hoped that the NSIB will continue on this status quo while other agencies would do better for themselves by  being proactive when the need arises.

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