Asaba Incident: Aircraft’s black box data overwritten after crew flew back to Lagos – NSIB

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has said critical data from the flight recorder of the private jet that landed on a road near Asaba Airport was overwritten after the aircraft was flown back to Lagos before investigators could take custody of it.

The Director-General of the NSIB, Alex Badeh, disclosed this on Friday during a virtual media briefing, saying the development would make it more difficult for investigators to reconstruct what happened during the unusual landing.

The incident involved a US-registered Bombardier Challenger 601-3A operated by VMO Aero Limited, which landed on a paved road near Asaba Airport in Delta State on 10 June instead of the designated runway.

The aircraft, which was flying from Lagos to Asaba under Instrument Flight Rules, was carrying four crew members and three passengers. No injuries were reported.

The crew later flew the aircraft back to Lagos before investigators arrived at the scene.

Mr Badeh said the return flight resulted in the flight recorder overwriting data that could have assisted the investigation.

He said the recorder was expected to have a longer recording capacity but, in this case, investigators recovered only about two hours of low-quality data.

“The rule allows them to have a 26-hour electric recorder but we discovered that it only recorded for about two hours of low quality,” he said.

He explained that because the aircraft had flown from Lagos to Asaba and then back to Lagos, the recorder had overwritten information from the period investigators were most interested in.

That has left investigators with less flight data from the aircraft’s movement around the time of the wrong-surface landing.

Mr Badeh, however, said the loss of the data would not end the investigation, adding that the bureau was using other methods to establish what happened.

What happened at Asaba

The incident had earlier raised questions about how the aircraft ended up on a road despite having been cleared to land at Asaba Airport.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the preliminary investigation showed the crew discontinued its initial approach before attempting a second approach to Runway 11.

The crew believed it was correctly aligned with the published Required Navigation Performance procedure before landing on a paved road under construction near the airport instead of the runway.

The aircraft subsequently departed the roadway and returned to Lagos.

Following its arrival in Lagos, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded the aircraft and suspended VMO Aero Limited’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flight pending investigations.

The development also attracted the attention of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who described the incident as a serious security breach.

Mr Keyamo had said the aircraft had been cleared by air traffic control to land on the runway but instead landed on a concrete road outside the secured airport environment.

He also raised concerns about the crew’s decision to leave the scene before investigators could examine the aircraft.

The crew was subsequently arrested on arrival in Lagos and handed over to the State Security Services (SSS) for further investigation.

Crew flew aircraft back without ATC clearance

Mr Badeh said the decision to return the aircraft to Lagos before investigators arrived created a major challenge for the safety investigation.

He said the pilot flew the aircraft back to Lagos without clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The additional flight, according to the NSIB boss, caused the recorder to overwrite some of the data from the original journey.

Flight recorders use continuous recording systems in which newer information can replace older data once the available storage capacity is reached.

As a result, the additional flight can affect the availability of information investigators need when reconstructing an occurrence.

Mr Badeh said the NSIB was still working to recover as much information as possible through other investigative methods.

He also said another flight recorder-related issue had been identified, but cautioned against drawing conclusions about what caused it.

“Although the FTR of the airplane did not work as well, I am not sure what happened but I think it was part of the cleaning, I’m not sure and I am not going to blame the operators yet.”

He added that the bureau would wait for the outcome of the investigation before reaching conclusions.

“So, for me I don’t think the airlines are going out of their way to destroy evidence,” he noted.

Mr Badeh said the NCAA had issued letters of investigation to operators reminding them of their obligation to preserve relevant data.

He noted that the NSIB had also held a workshop with operators on the need to preserve evidence after occurrences.

The bureau, he said, would continue engaging operators on the issue.

‘Crew don’t trust investigators’

Beyond the technical difficulties created by the overwritten data, Mr Badeh raised concerns about what he described as a wider safety culture problem within the aviation industry.

He said some pilots and crew members were reluctant to provide investigators with complete information because they feared that admitting mistakes could cost them their jobs.

“The crew don’t trust NSIB; they are scared of losing their jobs. It is a major problem we are dealing with,” he said.

According to him, the bureau does not recommend punitive sanctions for crew members who provide information during safety investigations.

“We do not recommend punitive sanctions, and we constantly assure crew members that nobody should be penalised for telling the truth,” Mr Badeh said.

The concern is significant because safety investigations depend heavily on accurate information from flight crews, alongside flight data, cockpit recordings, air traffic control communications and other evidence.

Where investigators cannot obtain complete information, it can become more difficult to establish the sequence of events and identify lessons that could prevent a similar occurrence.

NSIB raises funding concerns

Mr Badeh also used the briefing to raise concerns about the bureau’s funding and the possible effect of a proposed reduction in its share of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC).

The NSIB is opposing a proposal by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to reduce its share of the TSC from six per cent to four per cent.

The proposal was presented at a public hearing of the House of Representatives and is intended to increase NAMA’s allocation.

The TSC is collected by the NCAA and distributed among several aviation agencies.

Mr Badeh said the NSIB already receives the lowest allocation among the relevant agencies and that reducing its share further would put additional pressure on the bureau.

“We already get the lowest percentage of all the agencies. With this proposed reduction, it’s going to severely affect the NSIB,” he said.

“The Bureau is already grappling with shortfalls in its current allocation; an additional cut is unsustainable,” he added.

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The funding concern comes as the NSIB’s responsibilities have expanded beyond aviation.

The bureau now conducts multimodal safety investigations covering aviation, maritime, rail and road transportation.

Mr Badeh said the NSIB had not received its full six per cent allocation since around April or May, although he maintained that the funding shortfall had not prevented the bureau from carrying out investigations or expanding its operations.

“We are working on a more sustainable funded formula for the NSIB. I’m not sure what that’s going to look like yet, but we are talking with the NRS and the Presidency to figure this out,” he said.

The funding challenge also comes as the bureau works to complete its transition from the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to the Presidency.

Mr Badeh said the administrative process was substantially complete, with legislative amendments awaiting review by the Attorney-General of the Federation before consideration by the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly.

The House of Representatives had previously approved the legislative framework for transferring the bureau to the Presidency.

The NSIB is also seeking funding from other transport agencies as part of its multimodal responsibilities.

Mr Badeh said the bureau had yet to receive applicable funds from the Nigerian Railway Corporation, while the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency had disputed its obligation to remit certain charges.

He, however, commended the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for its cooperation with the bureau.

The developments surrounding the Asaba incident have therefore raised issues beyond what caused the aircraft to land on a road.

For the NSIB, the investigation now involves reconstructing the occurrence despite the loss of critical flight data, while also examining the circumstances that led the crew to leave the scene and return the aircraft to Lagos before investigators arrived.

The bureau’s findings are expected to establish the factors that led to the wrong landing and identify measures that could prevent a recurrence.