Crashed aircraft was not on ferry flight – Dana

Against the backdrop of speculations that the crashed Dana aircraft was the same one that was faulty two weeks before the crash and was on ferry flight, Dana Air management yesterday denied the speculations, saying the crashed aircraft was not on ferry flight and not the same one with faults.Ferry flying refers to delivery flights for the purpose of returning an aircraft to base, moving an aircraft from one base of operations to another or moving an aircraft to or from a maintenance facility for repairs, overhaul or other work.

Speaking in Ikeja at a joint press conference by the Dana Group and the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Oscar Wilson, director of flight operations of the airline, said it was against regulations to carry crew aboard a ferry flight, talkless of passengers.

He added that the crashed aircraft registration number was 5N-RAM while the one that had problems earlier was 5N-SRI.

“The crashed aircraft was in scheduled maintenance, it is not the same aircraft that had problems; we have taken that one to Istanbul for D-Check. It is unlawful to include passengers and crew in a ferry flight, in fact, the name of the pilot of a ferry flight has to be registered with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

“The NCAA conducts checks on us unannounced and we always report snags. The aircraft operated its full schedules on Saturday and operated three flights on Sunday before crashing”, he said.

Wilson explained that contrary to reports too, that the airspace was shut for VIP movement on that day, there was nothing like that, saying the aircraft flew freely.

He said the airline’s maintenance company, Mytechnic, is based in Istanbul, adding that they also have their back-up engineers in Nigeria, apart from the technical support they get from Iberia Airline.

He said the maintenance company is a reputable one that cannot be doubted.

Wilson confirmed that the pilot of the ill-fated flight reported engine failure at about 14.42p.m when it called for emergency. He said the aircraft, however, disappeared from radar screen at 14.44p.m, adding that only the transcript of the cockpit voice recorder known as ‘black box’ will determine the actual cause of the crash.

Wilson said that the airline would be losing 2,000 passengers and N50 million daily due to the suspension of its operations in the wake of the crash.

According to him, the loss would amount to N1.5 billion in one month.

The director reaffirmed that the airline’s insurer, Lloyds of London, was capable of paying the families of the crash victims $30,000 (N4.6 million) within the first 30 days of the accident.

Wilson appealed to commentators and the public to stop speculating in the media about the causes of the crash.

Jacky Hathiramani, Managing Director of the airline, said relief materials have been transported to displaced persons at the crash area, adding that senior management of the airline had visited the site and focused on providing necessary assistance.

“At this time, all the senior management of Dana Air is focused on providing assistance to the families and also full cooperation to the authorities carrying out investigation. As yet, the cause of the accident remains unknown”, he said. He said nationals of America, Canada, France and Lebanon were on board the flight.

Meanwhile, twenty-four hours after the Federal Government set up a nine-man Technical and Administrative Review Panel that would assess the operations of all domestic airlines, domestic operators, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have moved against it.

The AON says governments’ establishment of the panel undermines the status of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) standards and regulations, as well as ‘Category One’ of the United States Federal Aviation Administration, given to countries which the US has given a clean bill of health, in terms of aviation safety.

Also speaking at the joint press conference, Mohammed Joji, Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), noted that the Federal Government has set aside the functions of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which are saddled with the responsibility of audit for airworthiness of aircraft and investigation of accidents.

He said this could be particularly damaging, given that the United States Federal Aviation Administration (US-FAA) had only just issued Nigeria with its’ ‘Category One’ clearance two years ago, after a long drawn tussle over the safety of the country’s airspace and aviation practices.

The press conference was held as events continue to unfold after an MD 83 aircraft in the Dana fleet crashed into a residential area in Iju-Ishaga on the outskirts of Lagos . All the 153 persons on board the aircraft which was heading for the Lagos airport from Abuja died in the crash which also claimed the lives of some people on the ground.

He said undue political interference might force the withdrawal of the ‘Category One’ status.

By ‘Category One’, the US sees Nigeria as having good safety records in terms of its regulations on airplane maintenance and oversight on airlines. This was awarded to Nigeria after the FAA officials looked at the books of NCAA in 2010.

Since then, aircraft registered in Nigeria have been allowed into US airspace, giving room for Arik to begin operations into New York .

The AON said yesterday that the Nigerian government has just flouted international rules by imposing a committee on the agencies that are recognisable internationally to do their jobs.

“The committee is against the regulations of ICAO; it also counters the job of the AIB and NCAA. Nigeria is now telling the US-FAA that the category one it gave us was a mistake, our regulatory Act is about 3,500 pages. The ‘Category One’ is in recognition of the safety records of the NCAA. It means that for instance, Nigeria can audit Mexico which does not have it”, he said.

Joji, who also noted that it was wrong for government to continue to ground any aircraft type that crashes, from the fleet of airlines, observed that the practice does not obtain internationally.

He said such act of the Federal Government had impacted negatively on the operators, adding that many of the airlines such as Al-Barka, Trans-Sahara and others were sent packing because of that policy.

Joji, who noted that the domestic operators had injected over N3 billion into the economy, said inconsistent policy of the Federal Government, especially at changing ministers, who also change their policies in a sector that is governed by international laws, has affected the sector seriously.

“Between 1960 and today, the sector has had not less than 34 ministers. Under Obasanjo alone, we had five ministers, this is policy distraction; if and whenever there is a problem, we continue to complain and change things, rather than find solution, then the industry will not move forward”, he added.

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