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Nigeria: Aviation Ministry Says Black Box, Flight Recorder of Sosoliso Recovered

Posted on: Monday, 12 December 2005, 09:00 CST

Excerpt from report by Chuks Okocha, Okon Bassey and Ndubuisi Francis entitled "Black box, flight recorder recovered FG invites US investigators, convenes stakeholders forum" published by Nigerian newspaper This Day website on 12 December

The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Mr Tomi Oyelade, yesterday said that the Black Box and the Flight Recorder of ill-fated Sosoliso flight 1145 that crashed at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Saturday had been recovered.

The Federal Government, according to Oyelade who said he was representing the Minister of Aviation, Dr Babalola Borishade, has invited United States investigators to unravel the cause of the air crash even as President Olusegun Obasanjo convened a stakeholders' forum for Tuesday [13 December].

He described the crash as a pathetic natural disaster and expressed the Federal Government's condolence to the families of the victims, praying to God to give them the fortitude to bear the loss.

Giving progress report on the extent of investigation so far, Oyelade said the black box and the flight recorder were intact and had been handed over to accident investigators, adding, however, that although the aircraft had the permission of the control tower to land the cause of the accident was still unclear.

"All we were told is that the bad weather of yesterday contributed to the accident. We don't' know the actual cause of the accident. Investigators would be able to confirm the actual cause of the accident," he told newsmen.

The Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Femi Shittu, the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr Fidelis Onyenyere, and the Director General of the Nigeria Airspace Manage-ment Authority (NAMA), Mr Emperor Onasasey, accompanied the permanent secretary who arrived at the Port Harcourt International Airport at 10.25am, aboard an Overland aircraft.

When THISDAY visited the two hospitals where the bodies of the victims were being kept, family members were seen wailing and weeping. A woman who lost three members of her family called on Rivers State Governor Peter Odili, to ensure that the cause of the accident was made public.

Odili, who was part of the rescue operation Saturday, and had described the accident as a national disaster, however, directed that the bodies of the victims be released to their families to ease their pains. He also directed that trauma management centres should be opened in all hospitals where bodies of the victims are being kept. They include Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and Military Hospital, Port Harcourt.

In addition, he said the state government would underwrite the cost of embalment and preservation of the bodies of the victims.

Addressing relations of the victims who had besieged the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital for the identification of their relations and friends, Odili expressed the condolence of the government and people of Rivers State. He asked them to take heart and trust in God that He would wipe away their sorrows.

"Our hearts are flowing out to all of you. We all share this pain [but] there is nothing we can do to bring them back to life, just pass your pains to God, He is the only healer, the only consoler," he said.

Speaking with a survivor whose body was badly burnt, and was receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the UPTH, Odili asked her to be strong, have faith in God that He would heal her.

Odili also visited the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital Mortuary, as well as the Military Hospital, along Aba Road where he personally consoled some parents and family members who lost relations in the crash.

Odili also visited the homes of some of the victims, including that of the state Commissioner for Education, Okujiagu Thompson.

Several agencies, including the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), National Emer-gency Management Agency (NEMA), the Red Cross, the Nigerian Police, the Army the Air force, the Federal Road Safety Corps were all involved in the rescue efforts, while all Emergency Medical Ambulances belonging to the State government were redeployed from their stations to the Airport to assist in the evacuation of victims to the hospitals.

At press time, officials of Julius Berger PLC were still making arrangements to clear the runway to enable flight operations to commence at the airport that had been shut since the crash. Passage omitted].

Source: BBC Monitoring Africa

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