Six days after a privately operated aircraft made an abnormal landing on a public roadway near Asaba, Delta State, before departing for Lagos without regulatory approval, critical questions regarding flight details, safety oversight, and passenger manifests remain unanswered.
The prolonged silence from regulatory bodies has fueled growing unease within the aviation community. Just 24 hours after the June 10 incident, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) confirmed it had recovered and secured the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) from the Bombardier Challenger CL-601 aircraft, bearing registration N989BC and operated by VMO Aero Limited.
However, nearly a week after the NSIB secured these critical “black boxes,” the bureau has yet to release a preliminary report or basic factual data. Essential details—including the official flight plan, the exact timeline of the occurrence, the takeoff time, and the number of souls on board- remain shrouded in secrecy.
BusinessDay findings reveal that basic flight parameters and manifest data are typically extracted and made available within 48 hours of an occurrence, well ahead of a formal preliminary investigation report. The delay in releasing these baseline facts is increasingly raising suspicion among industry stakeholders.
