Following the incident of a United Nigerian Airline bound for Abuja from Lagos, but landed in Asaba, on Sunday, the Federal government has fumed and threatened to revoke the licence of any individual or organisation within the aviation industry, responsible for such irregularity.
This was even as it banned the operations of Wet lease flights, that is purely foreigners, without Nigerians either as a pilot or cabin crew members.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing in his ministry’s headquarters, said that the incidences that have been recorded in the Aviation industry, were as a result of failure of regulations.
Keyamo who frowned at a situation where Aviation companies will be so negligent on matters that involve life and death, also noted that such infractions will never be tolerated under his watch.
He said, that he has mandate the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority ( NCAA) to investigate all the incidences involving flights across the country over the past two weeks and report back to him within 10 days.
According to him, both the regulators, airline operators and Aviation service companies must be made to comply with all the rules, and where failure is recorded, those responsible would be adequately sanctioned.
He said, “Preliminary and precursionary steps that we are taking as a ministry, and regulators because of the incident that happened yesterday, where a plane bound for Abuja ended up at Asaba. We have listened to the transcript from the tower to the pilot. The transcript is produced by NAMA. It was clear that when the pilot was taken off from Lagos he was headed to Asaba and not to Abuja, whereas the flight ought to be headed fro Abuja.
“There was no whether problem in Abuja yesterday. NiMet has also confirmed that there was no whether problem in Abuja yesterday. It was a question of a wet lease plane, where a pilot and crew where all foreigners, Nigerians. That is what wet lease is all about.
“There were not familiar with Nigerian terrain. From the transcript we heard the tower kept asking the pilot, confirm again that you are going to Abuja and not Asaba, and the pilot replied, no I am going to Asaba.
“We all agreed that henceforth all wet list coming into Nigeria, you must have a Nigerian pilot seated on the jump seat with the foreign pilot. Even if its few hours. I have directed the NCCA that within the next 72 hours they should summon all the Pilots who are operating wet list in Nigeria for further briefing. They are flying Nigerians and are primary duty is to protect Nigerians.
“Again for every incident that happen, whoever is the regulator within the airline, NCAA should apply the harmer and withdraw their licences of those regulators and blacklist them , just like medical doctors suspend the license of doctors who are negligent in handling patients. Both involves life and death.
“We have also decided that if you are going to have wet lease in Nigeria, your cabin crew must be Nigerians, so that Nigerians can see people in the aplane they can interact with. We are reviewing all the incidences that happened within the last two weeks, and the reports will be ready in 10 days time”, he added.
