Plane Crash At Moscow Airport Kills 2

A passenger plane overshot the runway at a Moscow airport Saturday, killing two of the 12 people on board, according to state media.

Three others were seriously injured in the crash of the Tupolev airliner, Ria Novosti reported, citing Russia's Interior Ministry.

The Russian Red Wings Airlines flight was arriving to Vnukovo International Airport from the Czech Republic. Four of the 12 were crew members, though it wasn't immediately known if they were among the injured.

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AIB To Inaugurate Accident Investigation Laboratory

The Chief Executive Officer of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Capt. Mukhtar Usman, on Friday disclosed that an accident investigation laboratory would soon be inaugurated in the country.

Usman made the announcement in Lagos while speaking with with aviation correspondents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.

 He said that the laboratory built at a cost of 5.5 million dollars would be located in Abuja in line with international practices.

``The bureau is very close to launching its own Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) laboratory being installed by the CAE/ FlightScape Incorporation of Canada which will enable us to download both flight recorders promptly during investigation.

``Hitherto and now, these units are taken overseas for downloading, `` he said.

 Usman added that when completed, the laboratory would also handle cases of air, marine, road and rail accidents.

``We have highly qualified accident investigators who were trained in world class institutions to man the laboratory on inauguration, he said.

The CEO also said that the bureau had commenced training its personnel in investigating marine, road and rail-related accidents whenever they occurred.

``So AIB's planned collaboration with the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) in this respect is still ongoing,'' he said.

Usman said that 20 out of the bureau's 32 recommendations had so far been implemented by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation.

He identified some of the recommendations as the establishment of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project and airlines installing ground tracking devices in their offices to monitor their flights while flying.

 Usman recalled that no passengers could be rescued in the ADC, Bellview and Beachcraft 1900 D air crashes because there were no radar system to track them.

 

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PH Refinery Management Embarks On Campaign To Curb Pipeline Vandalism

The Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) has embarked on sensitisation of people in its catchment areas on the dangers of pipeline vandalism.

The Deputy Manager, Community Relations of the company, Mrs Edith Johnson, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eleme, near Port Harcourt, Rivers, on Friday.

Johnson said that vandalism seemed to be on the increase, explaining that the high rate prompted the refinery to embark on the campaign.

 She enumerated the dangers of pipeline vandalism as pipeline fire, pollution of the environment, loss of lives and economic sabotage.

Johnson said that the enlightment campaign would be carried out at Okrika, Eleme, Port Harcourt Depot areas, trailer parks and other flash points in the area.

Also speaking with NAN, the PHRC Deputy Manager, Safety, Mr Uche Nna, said the organisation had been engaging the host communities on pipeline safety.

Nna said that the company had set up a surveillance team to police the areas. ``Even at that, the rate of vandalism is still very high.

I can speak that between PHRC pipeline outlets through Okrika to Jetty; so sometimes, we have several breakages daily.

``The Local Government chairman (Okrika) has been doing so well recently, trying to ensure that structures that are along that line are being cleared,'' he said.

 Nna said that some people had built structures along the pipelines where they could easily lay pipes underneath to tap oil unnoticed.

He said that the company had many pipelines passing through the community to the jetty where the bulk production of oil was pumped into ships.

Nna said that the pipeline Right of Way (ROW), established by Gov. Chibiuke Amaechi was another measure to check pipeline vandalism.

 He said that the ROW involved PHRC, Shell, AGIP and other companies that had their pipelines running through the 23 Local Government Areas with the state's Ministry of Environment coordinating.

``We have got to a stage where we identify and mark those structures so that as soon as the State Government comes in with the chairman of the Local Government area, we will remove those structures.

``As we are removing the structures, then the oil companies will quickly recover their right of way,`` Nna said.

He said that apart from the fact that the pipelines were vandalized; the vandalism could clear a whole community.

``Once they vandalize the pipeline, if there is no fire coming from dowser strikes or coming from any other source of fire, all the materials, that is, the petroleum products, will find their way to the aquifer.

 ``As soon as they found their way to aquifer, the eco-system is altered, you will have the underground water contamination, you will have soil pollution.

``And to remediate and recover those surfaces and take them out of the water is quite a lot.

 ``And if care is not taken and it gets down to Bonny Basin, that means the whole place is real issue, so it is a real concern,`` Nna said.

 

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