IAC develops international cooperation – Memorandum of Understanding signed with NSIB (Nigeria)

On June 23, 2025, the Interstate Aviation Committee held consultations with the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB). The IAC delegation was headed by the Chairman, Oleg Storchevoy, NSIB – by Director General, Captain Alex Sabundu Badeh.

Opening the discussion, the IAC Chairman expressed confidence in the productivity of the upcoming direct contacts between the IAC and NSIB. "The IAC has been working on aviation safety development for over 30 years and during this period the Committee has gained significant experience. I hope that our joint work will give positive results and become an additional impetus for the further development of the competencies of our specialists, especially in the field of air accident investigation."

For his part, the NSIB Director General noted that for the NSIB delegation, consultations with IAC specialists are an important event that will foster cooperation in the field of air accident investigation: "We are interested in partnership with IAC. I am convinced that this will further strengthen our capabilities in air accident investigation and improve safety standards. Our common vision is to ensure safer skies and protect the lives of air passengers."

Colleagues from Nigeria were briefly informed about the main areas of IAC activity, which is aimed at forming a system for the safe air transport operation in the region and is carried out on the basis of the Interstate Agreement on Civil Aviation and Use of Airspace. They also reported that IAC conducts independent air accident investigations, develops and improves a system of common aviation rules based on ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices, coordinates the aviation specialists training, and participates in the development of recommendations for the prevention of air accidents in the future.

The NSIB delegation outlined the main activities of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, whose competence includes the investigation of any transport accidents and serious incidents that occurred in Nigeria, as well as with Nigerian aircraft, ships, trains or vehicles registered in other countries. The features of the organization of air incident investigations in Nigeria were covered in more detail.

As part of the consultations, the Nigerian delegation familiarized with the IAC laboratory complex. The technical capabilities of the laboratory were presented using specific examples. Attention was drawn to the fact that the IAC laboratory is equipped with hardware and software systems that allow data readout from almost all modern types of on-board recorders, both domestic and imported. A number of innovative solutions for data recovery from various electronic devices that do not have protection in case of air accident were demonstrated. Exclusive photogrammetric methods created by specialists of the IAC laboratory were presented, providing precise determination of the trajectory of movement and a number of flight characteristics of an aircraft seen in the lens of a particular camera. Unique methods of simulation and visualization of the circumstances of air accidents were shown.

The NSIB partners highly appreciated the technical equipment of the IAC laboratory and expressed their wishes to continue joint work in practice. "We are especially interested in studying the possibilities of mutual training and technical exchange, especially in terms of receiving data from flight recorders and cockpit voice recorders, as well as for joint work on the development of equipment for our laboratories," the head of the NSIB delegation emphasized.

NSIB is the leading organization for transport accidents investigation in its region and has one of the best laboratory complexes, which offers great opportunities for mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation.

The consultations were concluded with the signing of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding in the field of air accident and incident investigation and prevention. The signing of the Memorandum is aimed at developing cooperation in the field of air accident and incident investigation, air accident prevention and specialists training in these areas in accordance with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.

The parties recognized the expediency of expanding further development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of air accident investigation and exchange of best practices in the field of aviation safety.