NCAA Suspends Aircraft Involved In Flight Diversion

By Ayodele Oni

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) has announced the suspension of a wet – lease aircraft owned by United Nigeria Airlines (UNA).

This is coming few hours after the Abuja bound  aircraft diverted to Asaba International Airport, where it landed.

Management of the aircraft had sighted bad weather for the incident.The spokesperson of the airline, Mr Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, said that the plane that was involved in the flight diversion to Asaba, is the only one affected by the suspension

But the NCAA on Monday said that the apex civil aviation regulatory body took the decision via a letter communicated to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the airline.

Another report has it that all the wet-leased aircraft in the operations of the airline would remain suspended pending the outcome of an investigation on the Sunday incident, involving one of the wet-leased aircraft in the fleet of the airline.

It was gathered that immediately the incident gained traction on social media on Sunday, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Capt. Musa Nuhu called an emergency meeting of the agency, where it was resolved that the excuse given by the airline was not tenable to the authority.

Besides, it was learnt that the report obtained from the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), contravened the claim of the airline on poor weather situation in Abuja as of the time of the diversion.

Although reports said that no fewer than two wet-leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft were in the fleet of United Nigeria Airlines, the spokesperson insisted that the airline had only one and that it was the one affected by the suspension.

The source said: “NCAA has suspended all the wet lease aircraft in the operations of United Nigeria Airlines.

“The excuse they provided to us that the diversion to Asaba was due to poor weather in Abuja was not acceptable to us. So, we have to take the big step by suspending all the aircraft that are wet leased in their fleet.

“The aircraft will remain suspended until after investigation. We can’t allow this to happen. The fact is that their crews are foreigners and they are not familiar with Nigeria, which the airline ought to have done. So, we are suspending them until after the investigation.”