Three days after a tragic crash involving an Associated
Airlines plane killed 14 people in Lagos, the Federal Government, through the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday night, announced the suspension of
Dana Air’s operations nationwide. The decision to suspend Dana’s operations
came 24 hours after the NCAA grounded the operations of Associated Airlines,
whose Embraer 120 plane crashed near a fuel depot two minutes after takeoff at
the Lagos airport, leaving only six survivors.
The Coordinating General Manager, Corporate
Communications, Aviation Parastatals, Mr. Yakubu Dati, confirmed to Punch correspondent
on Sunday night that the government had suspended the operations of Dana Air
nationwide. Dati said the decision was to allow the regulatory agency “conduct
an operational audit” on the carrier and its planes.
The latest suspension of Dana’s operations made it the
third time the NCAA would be grounding the carrier over safety and other
related issues. On March 17, 2013, the government suspended the operations of
Dana in order to “resolve certain safety issues,” according to the NCAA. Some
days later, the government lifted the suspension thus clearing the carrier to
resume operations.
The March 17 suspension came nearly three months after the
airline resumed operations following a seven-month suspension after its Boeing
MD-83 crashed in Lagos, killing 163 people The government had on June 5, 2012
revoked the operational licence of Dana, two days after the crash in
Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.
The government had also at a time directed Dana to pay
compensations to the families of all the victims of the June 3, 2012 crash or
risk severe sanctions. It is unclear whether the latest suspension of the
airline’s
In a separate statement, the AIB also said investigations
had commenced into the incident involving a Kabo Air B747 plane, which occurred
in Sokoto on Friday. The aircraft, carrying Saudi Arabia-bound pilgrims, was
believed to have burst tyres on landing.
“The AIB investigators have been dispatched to conduct an
investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident to determine the
probable cause. The investigation is not to apportion blame or liability,
but to prevent future re-currence of similar incidents and improve air safety
through safety recommendations,” the statement explained.
It added that the AIB was charged with the responsibility
of investigating aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the country,
and where Nigeria’s interest was represented.
Source: Punch
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