Aviation Industry Alarmed As LASEMA Usurps NSIB Investigative Authority

The Nigerian aviation community is currently locked in a heated debate over institutional boundaries following a “technical alert” involving Qatar Airways flight QR 1406 on Friday, January 16, 2026. The Boeing 787-800, carrying 260 people, made a safe precautionary return to Lagos after mid-air technical issues.

However, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) sparked industry-wide concern by releasing a “preliminary report” on the cause of the incident within 10 hours, a duty strictly reserved for the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) under international law.

Aviation experts warn that LASEMA’s hasty narrative not only violates ICAO Annex 13 but also undermines the credibility of Nigeria’s safety oversight. While LASEMA is a vital first responder recognized through a 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NSIB, the bureau’s former leadership clarified that this partnership is limited to site security and evidence preservation, not technical investigation.

 The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) further complicated the situation by correcting LASEMA’s description of the event, clarifying it was a “precautionary air return” rather than an “emergency landing” or “forced landing.”

The clash highlights a growing trend of “authority erosion” where state agencies dominate the public narrative before federal investigators can speak. Retired military aviators and industry analysts suggest that this communication gap creates a perception of weak command and control, which could attract negative attention from international safety monitors.

Under the NSIB Act 2022, the bureau is the sole body empowered to investigate and issue safety recommendations for air, rail, and marine accidents in Nigeria to prevent recurrence without apportioning blame.

As of Friday, January 23, 2026, the NSIB has yet to release its own formal preliminary statement, leaving LASEMA’s report as the primary public document. Stakeholders are calling for a “structural reset” in inter-agency crisis communication to ensure that future incidents are handled according to globally harmonized procedures.

For now, the consensus remains clear: while LASEMA’s presence on the runway is essential for life-saving, their presence in the investigative report room is a breach of international aviation protocol.