NCAA obeys minister’s order, suspends Dana Air

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has imposed a suspension on the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) of Dana Air with immediate effect.

This is contained in a letter issued by Chris Najomo, the acting DG, NCAA issued to Dana Air on Wednesday.

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development has earlier directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA) to suspend Dana Air.

In a letter by Emmanuel Meribole, Permanent Secretary, the ministry of aviation and aerospace development to the NCAA, he noted that as the supervisor overseeing the nation’s aviation safety and regulatory compliance, it has come to the minister’s attention that recent incidents involving Dana Airlines have raised serious concerns regarding both the safety and financial viability of their operations.

The letter reads that in light of these incidents and with the paramount priority being the safety and well-being of our citizens and travelers, the Minister has directed that the NCAA immediately initiate the suspension of Dana Airline’s fleet until a comprehensive audit can be conducted.

In NCAA’S letter to Dana, the authority stated that subsequent to the runway excursion involving its aircraft at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), the authority is awaiting preliminary report on the investigation launched by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).

The NCAA stated that while the NSIB is conditioning safety investigation, the NCAA has initiated an in-house compliance assessment of the occurrence taking into account previous occurrences involving Dana Air aircraft.

This, Najomo said is in a bid to establish any trend which must be nipped in the bud in the interest of safety and well-being of citizens and travellers.

He further stated that the minister in sharing the concerns of the authority has thrown his weight behind the need for swift measures to be taken to address pertinent safety and economic issues that may underpin some of these occurrences.

“As a precautionary step, and in accordance to section 31 (7) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2022, the authority has imposed a suspension on your AOC with effect from 24th April, 2022 at 23:59 to allow for a thorough safety and economic audit.

“The safety audit will entail a re-inspection of your organisation, procedures, personnel and aircraft as specified by part 1.3.3.3 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation regulations, while the economic audit will critically examine th financial health of your airline to guarantee its capability to sustain safe flight operations,” the letter from the NCAA DG read.