NSIB Blames Poor Maintenance For Max Air’s Accident

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) on Thursday said that the cause of the incident involving a Boeing 737-400 aircraft with registration number 5N-MBD, operated by Max Air Limited, which occured  on May 7th, 2023 was down to poor maintenance and power failure.

The Director General of the NSIB, Akin Olateru, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja explained that the Yola ATC Voice Recording System did not record any communication between the Pilot and the duty controller on the day of the occurrence.

He, however, said he tasked Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency ensure uninterrupted power supply to avoid the vulnerability of operations.

He said days before the aircraft was operated, the wheel of the aircraft was worked on.

“Days before the use of the aircraft, the wheels were worked on, and when you work on the wheel, there are ways you are supposed to tighten the knots. There is what we call locking wire of the knots and there are other things to secure the wheel in place.

“Two days after, the wheel came out, which shows that something must be wrong with the maintenance of the aircraft. Whoever did the wheel definitely did not follow the manufacturer’s recommendation on how to change the wheel.

“So, for a wheel to have fallen off, even Boeing was also interested in this because it is their aircraft and they find the news very embarrassing. So, they are working with us so that they can have firsthand information,” the NSIB DG stated