Fed govt says it is investigating airline for bad behaviour

Dana airline has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately; prompting the federal government to launch a probe into its operations.

On February 20, 2018, Dana aircraft 9J0363 overshot the runway of the Port Harcourt airport before ending up in the surrounding bush.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) blamed heavy rainfall and a slippery tarmac for the incident.

A Sahara Reporters investigation put the age of the Dana airline that crash landed in Port Harcourt at 27 years.

A string of mishaps

On February 7, 2018, passengers onboard a local Dana airline relayed how the door of the aircraft made uncomfortable noise throughout the flight, before giving way upon landing.

Dana denied that its door had fallen apart, but passengers onboard demurred.

The airline insisted someone must have tampered with the door when the aircraft touched down.

And just before midnight of Tuesday, February 13, 2018, Delta Flight 55 which was bound for Atlanta US, taxied on the runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos in a huff as everyone on board held their breaths. One of the airline’s engines had developed a fault midair.

Minister of State for Aviation, Sen Hadi Sirika told journalists that Dana and other airlines operating in the country’s airspace are being closely monitored in the wake of the near mishaps

Oversight

“We have increased our oversight on all the airlines in the country with particular attention to Dana Air, having been in the news for bad reasons lately”, Sirika was quoted as saying by Punch.

“So, we are taking it seriously; and since the first incident, the NCAA (Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority) has been on the matter regarding Dana and other airlines.”

Sirika added that contrary to widespread insinuations,

“All the standards and the recommended practices are regulated worldwide the same way; and Nigeria recently has done very well in aviation. We scored 96.4 per cent in security when ICAO did the safety audit of the country.

“Two airports were certified by ICAO; the two airports are in Lagos and Abuja. We are doing everything we can to certify all airports. Nigeria scored over 67 per cent last year on safety.

“We are on our way to ensuring that everything is perfect in the aviation industry. We want to assure the general public that whatever it will cost us to maintain this high standard and improve upon them, we will do it”, Sirika assured.