The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate claims of engine failure and/or bird strike by two flights; Max Air and Aero Contractors that sought to depart Kano and Port Harcourt airports respectively to Abuja on Tuesday.
The House mandated its committee on aviation to particularly look at the flights’ safety precautionary measures which nearly caused air accidents, towards avoiding further loss of lives and destruction of properties.
The resolution of the House followed the unanimous adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Bala Umar (APC, Kano) at plenary on Wednesday.
Moving the motion, Umar noted that on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, 140 air passengers, including the Emir of Kano and 90 others flying with both Max Air and Aero Contractors aircraft escaped fatal accidents and possible deaths as they separately departed Kano and Port Harcourt airports for Abuja.
He also noted that the Max Air plane with registration number VM1645 which was scheduled for take-off by 1.30pm had delayed for about 30 minutes before departing only to escape air crash, just as Aero Contractors’ Boeing 737-500 with the registration number 5N-BKR encountered bird strike 10 minutes upon take-off and eventually returned to base.
The lawmaker expressed concern that there were allegations of negligence on the part of the airlines in applying safety precautions, leading to these accident threats.
Umar was also concerned that according to a passenger, despite the echoing of a large strange sound at the point of take-off by the Max aircraft, the pilot and his crew allegedly dismissed any feeling of insecurity and took off.
Umar argued that given that contact with birds and aircraft can cause accidents and deaths, the best practice should be the use of bird strike avoidance radars to avert such unfortunate situations.
He expressed the concern that “bird strike is increasingly becoming a recurring incident in our airports with reports suggesting it is prevalent at the Aminu Kano International Airport Kano.”
Meanwhile, the House has urged relevant agencies to provide functional disability desks to ease the difficulty experienced by persons living with disabilities (PWDs) at all airports across Nigeria.
It also urged airline operators in collaboration with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to provide relevant assistive devices for PWDs at the airports.
The House further mandated its committee on disabilities to investigate the allegations of the discrimination against persons with disabilities, with particular reference to the allegation of Chike Okogwu against Dana Airline and report back within two weeks for further legislative action.
These resolutions were reached sequel to the adoption of a motion on “Need to investigate the alleged violation of the discrimination against persons with disabilities (Prohibition) Act by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and Private Airline Operators”, sponsored by Miriam Onuoha (APC, Imo)
