The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from a private aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba in Delta State, activating full emergency investigation protocols and deploying a field team to the site within hours of the incident being reported.
The aircraft involved, a Bombardier Challenger CL-601 registered as N989BC and operated by VMO Aero Limited, was on a flight from Lagos to Asaba when it deviated from the airport and came down on a roadway, later departing the same road under circumstances that NSIB said it was working urgently to understand. No fatalities or serious injuries were reported.
NSIB Director-General Captain Alex Badeh Jr. said the prompt deployment of the investigative go-team and the swift recovery of both flight recorders were critical first steps in establishing a factual account of what occurred and why. He said investigators were also obtaining operational, maintenance, and air traffic control records, and would conduct interviews with all relevant personnel as part of a comprehensive inquiry conducted under Civil Aviation regulations and ICAO Annex 13 standards.
Badeh emphasized that the investigation was conducted solely for the purpose of advancing aviation safety and would not seek to attribute blame or determine legal liability, saying those functions fell outside the bureau’s mandate. He called on members of the public who witnessed the incident or held photographs, video footage, CCTV recordings, or other relevant material to contact the bureau and contribute to an inquiry that he said would result in safety recommendations designed to prevent any recurrence.
