Chat 212 - News Summary...
- AIB to send the two engines of the Embraer 120 aircraft that crashed, to Brazil for comprehensive analyses.
- The spokesman for AIB said “There might be a need for tear down of the engines to carry out analyses and tests on the damaged engines .
Chat 212 - Newsmail Report...
The Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, will soon send the two engines of the Embraer 120 aircraft that crashed on Thursday to Brazil for comprehensive analyses.
Our correspondents gathered yesterday that the accident investigator would embark on a tear down of the engines to know the probable cause of the crash, which had so far killed 15 of the 20 passengers onboard. AIB said that the best company to carry out analysis on the crash was the manufacturer, Embraer Manufacturing Company based in Brazil.
Spokesman for AIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, confirmed the plans by the agency to take the engines abroad for comprehensive analyses and tests.
He said: “There might be a need for tear down of the engines. We are likely to send them to the manufacturer of the aircraft in Brazil because they are in the best position to carry out analyses and tests on the damaged engines.
“At our own end here, we will continue interviews and other necessary things and plans are still on to decode one of the black boxes, cockpit voice recorder, CVR, this week by our investigators in charge of the crash.”
It will be recalled that when the Dana Air plane crashed on June 3, 2012 at Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos, AIB sent the engines to Boeing Aircraft Manufacturing Company in the United States of America, USA. Oketunbi said the engines would be removed yesterday to either its Lagos office or a maintenance hangar within the Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA. But as at the time of filing this report, the engines were still at the crash site.
He, however, assured that the CVR would still happen this week, but the actual date for the commencement of decoding was still unknown. Besides, AIB said it was still awaiting the arrival of the manufacturer in Abuja to commence the analyses.
Oketunbi said that the manufacturers were expected to arrive from Canada this week for the commencement of decoding of the CVR in its laboratories. “It’s important for us to invite those who manufactured the laboratories for us. You know the laboratories are still new and we need to involve them in this process. The manufacturers still give us support,” he said.
Air passengers are now confronted with fresh challenges as they struggle to get seats with the airlines to their destinations. This is due to Sunday’s grounding of operations of Dana Air by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, in a bid to conduct operational and mechanical audits on the airline. This followed an air return on its Port Harcourt- Lagos route two days ago.
The remaining airlines have, however, seized the opportunity of the grounding of the airline to review their airfares upward. Aviation experts described the suspension of operations of the airline by NCAA as a “panicky measure”, which would only end up creating bigger problems for the aviation industry in the country. As at Sunday, a flight to Abuja on First Nation Airways was N16, 000, but it skyrocketed to N25, 000 on Monday. Same thing applies to other indigenous airlines.
Before its suspension on Sunday, Dana Air was the third airline in terms of passenger traffic after Arik Air and Aero Airlines. It was the third time that the airline would be suspended by the government after the June 3, 2012 crash that killed 153 passengers on board. Besides, two months after the suspension was lifted, the NCAA also wielded the big stick on the airline by suspending its operations. The licence was, however, restored a few weeks later.
Hundreds of passengers who had planned to travel to various destinations with the airline yesterday from the Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA, Lagos, were disappointed on hearing that its operations had been grounded.
The airline has also commenced the refund of airfares to passengers who booked online or purchased tickets across the counters, but a mild drama occurred when the airline ran out of cash. The situation was later resolved when the airline went to banks to withdraw more money for the stranded passengers who were on a long queue. The President, Aviation Round Table, ART, Capt. Dele Ore, said the grounding of the carrier’s operations portend grave danger for the sector.
He said that it was regrettable that the NCAA had to take panicky measures instead of being alive to its responsibilities. He said: “It is a flimsy excuse to ground an airline over an air return. Air return is allowed in aviation.
It is a necessary safety measure by airlines.” Also, former MMA Commandant, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), urged the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, to re-assess the “unilateral imposed policies embarked on for the industry and the overcommercialisation of the safety and security regulations that collectively are stiffening and distressing the operators and exploiting the air travellers.”
Our correspondents, however, learnt from a reliable source yesterday that a meeting was ongoing in Abuja with the Minister of Aviation; the NCAA Director-General, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, and the management team of the airline.
The meeting was to review the decision by the authority. Some of the passengers at MMA2 expressed disappointment at the decision of the government. A passenger, who simply identified himself as Christopher, said that he received a text message from the airline on the latest development, stressing that the situation dealt a big blow to his travel plans.
He said: “As you can see, they are refunding our money. I booked online on Sunday for a flight to Abuja today (Monday) at 3p.m. and as soon as I discovered that the operations of the airline had been suspended, I came to the airport to collect my refund so that I can book my flight with another airline.” Another passenger, Mrs. Omolola Oke, whose flight was scheduled for 10:53a.m. from Lagos to Abuja also expressed disappointment.
Oke, who was travelling for ICAN conference, added that she was able to secure a seat on another airline. Meanwhile, the Federal Government yesterday assured that Nigeria’s airspace was still safe. Oduah, while speaking with State House correspondents, said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, rated Nigeria as the 12th most safe aviation globally with a record of 65 per cent, which is above the global average.
The minister, apparently reacting to the comments credited to the former aviation minister, Femi Fani- Kayode, said that those criticising the aviation sector reform were ignorant, stressing that security and safety in the sector could not be achieved without funding.
She explained that the suspension of Dana Air licence was not a fire brigade response following the recent Associated Airlines plane crash, saying that the action was taken in accordance with the law and policy of certification “which is a constant assessment of operators to make sure they are in compliance.” Oduah denied the allegation that she compromised the issue of safety for money making venture in the aviation sector. When reminded that the comments were made following last Thursday’s crash, Oduah said: “We do not pray for accidents but it is inevitable. But we do everything to ensure that we do not have accidents. It is an act of God.
“Again, we do not speculate on the cause of accidents until they happen. But what is obvious and is the truth is that in aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the man that carries your luggage to the man that makes sure that your boarding pass is issued to you. “And so the regulatory agency, the operators, the management, everybody has responsibility and all must work in tandem for there to be an optimal, secured and safe aviation sector.
And that is what we have been working on.” On why investigations were not concluded before authorising Dana Air to resume flights, she stated that: “It was concluded and like I said, the process of certifying, recertifying security and safety is continuous; it doesn’t stop.
You can get your certification today and in a month’s time or even a week down the line something may happen because constantly the papers, the documents, the log books are constantly being checked.” She noted that investigation into the cause of the crashed Associated Airlines would soon be concluded and made public. “We are still on it. The preliminary report should be out in a couple of weeks. The experts that are coming from France and the manufacturer of the aircraft, we must have them regardless of how we want to accelerate it.
“We are waiting for them to come so that we can open the engine and find out exactly from them. And you cannot do any of those without their presence; if you do that then you have contaminated the investigation, so we must wait for them,” she said The minister also disagreed with the notion that airlines were being saddled with many levies, which contributed to the sectors woes.
