MD-83 havariet et mysterium

Why Nigeria Plane Lost Power Before Crash Still Mystery

By Alan Levin

(Bloomberg) Nigeria's chief aviation regulator, recommended for suspension after the nation's deadliest accident in almost 40 years, defended his record as several safety advocates said he may become a scapegoat.

"Would you please wait for the accident investigation to complete, to have seen the black boxes, before we start judging?" Harold Demuren, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, asked in a phone interview yesterday.

Demuren appealed for patience during the investigation into the Dana Airlines Ltd. crash on June 3. All 153 people on board and an unknown number on the ground were killed when the Boeing Co. (BA) MD-83 jetliner crashed and burst into flames in a Lagos suburb while approaching the airport on a domestic flight.

Nigeria's aviation industry had one of the world's worst safety records in 2006, a year after Demuren took his job. Four years later, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration gave Africa's largest oil producer a Category 1 rating, which allowed its domestic carriers to fly to the U.S.

"We have become one of the safest places in Africa," Demuren said, speaking from Nigeria.

Fra NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board will review flight data recorders from the recent crash of a commercial airliner in Nigeria that killed more than 160 people.

A jet being operated by Nigerian airline Dana Air crashed in the country's capital city Lagos last weekend, killing at least 160 people.

Speaking at a meeting of the International Aviation Club Thursday, NTSB Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said the data recorders from the plane were currently en route to Washington.

"They're supposed to arrive tomorrow at Dulles for transport back to our lab," she said.

Hersman made the remarks during a speech to the IAC touting international cooperation in accident investigations.