NAIJAFEED

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Nigerian government suspends Dana Air indefinitely

The Federal Government has suspended the operating licence of Dana Airlines "as a precaution" following last Sunday's crash which claimed over 160 lives, including tenants of a residential building.

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) will this week send a team of its investigators to the United States with the recovered Flight Data Recorder (FDR), also known as the "Black Box", for further analysis.

The Black Box, an electronic device, is used to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft.

The device records specific aircraft performance parameters, while the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) records the radio conversation between the cockpit crew and others, including the air traffic control personnel.

The data recorded by the FDR is used for accident investigation. It is also used for analysing air safety issues, material degradation and engine performance.

The captain of the ill-fated Dana 992 flight was said to have complained about engine problems and requested emergency landing but could not make it to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos State.

It crashed on a two-storey building at Iju-Ishaga, Agege area of the state, after losing control with the control tower.

THISDAY learnt that already, the conversations on the CVR are being transcribed at a secure location in the country and the investigative team will travel with the recovered materials to the US "before weekend", according to aviation sources.

Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, Tuesday evening said the Federal Government suspended the operating licence of Dana Airlines "for safety reasons".

Speaking on the telephone with THISDAY in Abuja, the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Joe Obi, said: "The decision to suspend the airline for now even though investigation has commenced is for safety and precautionary reason."

While the minister did not specify how long the suspension would take, she said government had the primary duty of ensuring safety of its citizens, provided it was done in the general interest of the country.

The Senate had earlier demanded the immediate suspension of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, and other top officials of aviation regulatory agency to allow for an unfettered investigation into the crash.

The upper chamber of the National Assembly had also urged the NCAA to immediately ground all planes in the fleet of Dana Airlines operating in the country pending the outcome of the investigation into the mishap.

At the end of the heated debate, the Senate directed its Committee on Aviation to jointly sit with the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation to conduct a thorough investigation into the crash.

The joint investigation is also aimed at ascertaining the airworthiness of all aircraft operating in the country to ensure that they conform to global safety standards.

The Senate also directed the Ministry of Aviation to release without any further delay the reports of all previous air mishaps in the country and prosecute all those indicted in the reports.

The Senate President David Mark directed that the resolutions of the motion should be communicated to the Presidency without delay.

Also Tuesday, the House of Representatives vented their anger and disillusionment on the operators of Dana Airlines over an alleged negligence.

At a stage during the session filled with emotional outbursts, the Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, said that there was an overwhelming outcry and demand for thorough investigation of the crash.

He directed the committee on aviation to commence probe of the incident and to unearth all issues that might inhibit the smooth and safe operation of the aviation industry.

This Day

President Goodluck Jonathan declares 3 day mourning for victims of Dana Air plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria

Video - All passengers dead in airline that crashed into building in Lagos, Nigeria

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Video - Dana Air crash major setback for Nigeria's aviation industry

Nigeria's government says at least 63 people on the ground as well as the 153 people onboard the Dana Air passenger plane which crashed into a densely-populated neighbourhood of Lagos have died.

As the scale of this human tragedy sets in, the focus is shifting to what caused Dana Air flight to crash with reports emerging that the pilots reported engine trouble shortly before the crash.
President Goodluck Jonathan has called incident a "setback" for country's aviation industry after a visit to crash site.

Al Jazeera

Related stories: Doomed Dana Airliner was forced to fly

Video - All passengers dead in airline that crashed into building in Lagos, Nigeria

Video - President Goodluck Jonathan visits Dana plane crash site in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan described on Monday the crash of a passenger aircraft as a "setback" for the country's aviation industry.

All 153 passengers aboard the plane were killed when it went down in a Lagos suburb on Sunday.

Al Jazeera

Video - All passengers dead in airline that crashed into building in Lagos, Nigeria

Doomed Dana Airliner was forced to fly

An official of Dana Airline, yesterday, made a startling revelation on the circumstances surrounding Sunday's crash of the airline's Lagos-bound plane in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos, saying the management of the airline knew the ill-fated aircraft was faulty before take-off but still went ahead to fly it.

This was corroborated by two officials of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA),one of the regulatory agencies in the Aviation sector who argued that the airline should be charged with murder because "the particular aircraft McDonnell 83 with Registration Number 5N-RAM had history of technical problems which both the airline and regulatory agencies were aware of"

According to the officials, "this particular aircraft had hydraulic problems three weeks ago and had to return to Lagos after take off, thereby aborting the flight.

DANA forced plane to fly - Staff alleges

The airline official, who made the revelation in an interview with Channels television,but does not want to be named, confirmed that the ill-fated Dana Air flight 0992, MC Donnell Douglas (MD 83) was faulty shortly after it left Lagos and stopped over in Calabar.

She alleged that the Indian owners of the airline threw caution to the wind and insisted that the plane must fly in a bid to maximise profit, thereby sending the plane over to Abuja to pick passengers, when it should have been returned to Lagos for further repair.

She also claimed the flight has had persistent history of faults with its hydraulics in recent times and it was not supposed to have flown.

According to the official, "the plane has been faulty for a very long time. There was a case when it was on ground in Uyo for over six hours, because of delayed flight, it had a bolt. And then in Abuja it happened a few days ago, then some people went with the aircraft but they could not come back, because it had a fault there and it couldn't leave Abuja."

"The same engineers that fixed it and then they sent crew to bring it with passengers to Lagos."

Confirming that the plane that crashed on Sunday, was not supposed to leave Lagos at all, the Dana official stated that "yesterday, it (Dana Air flight 0992) was not supposed to leave Lagos at all, but it left and then got to Calabar, developed fault and it was fixed and then they took it to Abuja, when they should have returned to Lagos but because they didn't want to part with the little money they will make, they took it to Abuja, loaded full passengers, and then it couldn't get to Lagos. "

"It has been having faults over time, continuously, hydraulics or one thing or the other. That aircraft kept having problems and they were not ready to park it" she alleged.

She added that the management of the airline does not return aircraft with faults back to the station, as it should have, but "they make it complete its normal route to where ever it is supposed to go before they bring it back to Lagos" she said.

Also, the Special Adviser, Technical to Minister of Aviation, Mr. Victor Oche Elias, has revealed that the pilot of the ill-fated plane, had alerted the aviation authority of the airport, on the emergency situation 11 nautical miles to landing.

It was further disclosed that the pilot's May-Day cry was given priority, but the plane could not make it, as it crashed 4 nautical miles to landing.

MC Donnell Douglas MD 83 was sold to Dana Airline in 2009 by a US-based Alaska Airlines, ahead of the airline commencing its services in Nigeria.

Dana Air blames crash on engine failure-Apologises

Meanwhile, Officials of Dana airline have attributed the cause of the ill fated flight which crashed at Alagbado on Sunday, to engine trouble Oscar Wason, Dana Air's director of operations, told CNN the American pilot of the passenger lane had reported engine trouble shortly before the crash. Sources said the engine of the Aircraft had caught fire and the radioed the control tower to declare an emergency, landing as it was in its final approach to Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The Dana Air flight was from Abuja to Lagos with its six crew members. The Boeing MD-83 slammed into a two-storey residential building. This contradicts earlier reports that the ill fated Dana aircraft crashed into high tension electricity tower. The Airline equally apologised to Nigerians and the families of the victims.

Reports said over at least 115 bodies have been recovered from the smoldering wreckage, where rescue workers were still searching for the flight data recorder. Policemen with cadaver dogs and officials of National Emergency Management Agency are maintaining the search for bodies and valuable items inside the wreckage. Large crane from a local construction company was being used to lift pieces of debris away. They also brought blow torches to cut through what remains of the plane. Some of the rescue workers wore masks to protect themselves from the stench from the site of the crash. Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola told the surging crowd to make way for the first line responders to do their work because they are in an accident site, not a tourist site. Said Governor Fashola: "This is a crash site, it is an investigation site, and we should keep our distance and allow the first responders to do their work."

Meanwhile families of the deceased are being invited to take a look at some of the recovered bodies for possible identification. Said source: "It is going to be a tough call for some of the families to see the mangled bodies of their loved ones but in this part of the world it is important for departed ones to be given a proper burial"

Vanguard

List of the deceased from Dana Air plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria

Monday, June 4, 2012

Video - All passengers dead in airline that crashed into building in Lagos, Nigeria

Nigeria's president Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning after an airliner crashed in the
commercial capital Lagos.

The Dana airlines flight was on its way from the capital Abuja. The cause of the crash is still unclear but the aircraft crashed down in a densely populated suburb north of the airport.

All 153 passengers and crew have reportedly been killed.

Al Jazeera

President Goodluck Jonathan declares 3 day mourning for victims of Dana Air plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria

Passenger plane crashes into building in Lagos, Nigeria