The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Thursday said late Taraba state Governor, Danbaba Suntai, who crashed in the ill-fated Cessna 208 B October 25, 2012, was not qualified to fly.
This formed part of the six final accident reports released by the bureau.
Others included; Delta Airlines Airbus A330- 223 on February 13, 2018 and Bristow Helicopters Sirkorsky S76C6 +, which crashed on February 3, 2016.
The rest were a Diamond DA40D aircraft operated by International Aviation College in Ilorin and a GulfStream G200 aircraft operated by Nestoil Plc.
Briefing journalists in Lagos, AIB Chief Executive Officer Akin Olateru said accident reports were not meant to be punitive.
While saying the bureau could not conclusively determine the cause of the crash involving the late Taraba governor, the AIB chief stated that Suntai as pilot of the ill-fated airplane was not certified, qualified and competent to fly the aircraft.
Olateru said Suntai’s decision to operate a Visual Flight a Rules (VFR) flight after sunset was inconsistent with aviation rules.
He also accused the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for its inadequate oversight duties as a regulator, saying Suntai’s aircraft was not in NCAA registry.
Olateru further said there was no maintenance record for the late governor’s aircraft in any Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO).
On the late governor’s crash, AIB said: “The pilot was not qualified to fly Cessna 172 and had total logged flying hours of fifty eight hours forty minutes.
“The pilot had no relevant endorsement to fit Cessna Caravan 208B. The pilot does not have instrument ratings and night flight privileges.
“The pilot reported an incorrect estimated time of arrival at Yola Airport. The pilot reported the number of persons on board as six to the control tower as against four actual persons found after the accident.”
On the Delta Airlines Airbus A330-223, the AIB said its findings showed the aircraft engine caught fire due to fuel manifold cracking attributable to high vibratory stresses.
“An over temperature condition and localised fire within the number one engine cowling triggered a fire warning. The over temperature and fire were caused by ignition of fuel from a hairline crack on the fuel manifold supplying fuel nozzle one,” it said.
Also revealing its findings on the Bristow Helicopters Sikorsky S76C+ + crash, the AIB said the chopper crashed because the crew failed to adhere to company operations manual relating to after take-off checks.
The AIB said the crew did not disengage the autopilot to fly the aircraft manually.
It asked Bristow Helicopters to consider reviewing its procedure for terming crew back to flight duties after staying off duty for any period up to thirty days.
The bureau said it had issued safety recommendations to the National Transport Safety Bureau to consider informing the United States Federal Aviation Administration to issue an airworthiness directive and safety bulletin to the aircraft engineer manufacturer to address the fuel nozzle and fuel manifold modes.
On the whole, the report recommended that Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) take appropriate action to relocate the existing control tower at Yola Airport in order to enhance the aerial view of the approach path runway 35 from the tower.
Similarly, it said the NCAA should ensure all pertinent regulations with regards to the operations of the aircraft and certification of all relevant personnel and facilities of the ministry of works and transport, Taraba state government were appropriately complied with.
