The Federal Executive Council of Nigeria has approved plans to establish the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Training School, in the country.
The AIB Commissioner, Mr. Akin Olateru, confirmed the development at the monthly Gateway Forum organised by the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) in Lagos on Saturday.
Olateru noted that it would partner with the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria, on the training of aviators.
He further stated that the institution would enable AIB, which had not been charging money for its services, to earn money by training people from both Africa and outside the continent.
The commissioner explained that it had drawn up a curriculum from Cranfield University, Singapore Aviation Training Institute, as it planned to establish a world-class training school.
Olateru stated that it was important to also cooperate with various government agencies and other institutions, for training and successful accident investigation.
He said: “We had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos, University of Ilorin and another university in the United Kingdom.
“We hope to sign such MoU with more Nigerian agencies such as the Nigerian Navy and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA).
Olateru said the AIB had applied to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to grant its license to enable it to deploy drones at the crash site.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a drone is an Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle (UAV), aircraft type that could fly autonomously; without a human in control.
The commissioner explained that the drones once it had been approved by NCAA, would further improve its accident investigation.
Olateru noted that the bureau was at the process of certification and that was why it did not deploy drones, during the last accident investigation exercise.
“Drone is extremely essential when an accident occurs in a wider area and when it is not available, it could take a longer time to gather evidence.
“We hope to fast-track the application with the NCAA. We are putting our papers together and we are pushing the application,” he said.
He noted that the AIB presently had 36 trained air safety investigators, who had been training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT).
The commissioner added that others were at Cranfield University in California and Singapore Aviation Training Institute.
(NAN)