Azman Air was suspended to avert national tragedy, says NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Friday, discloses it suspended the operations of Azman Air to prevent a national tragedy and loss of lives which may become unavoidable if the airline keeps on working while neglecting safety policies.

The representative of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, declared this in a statement tagged, ‘NCAA Puts The Record Straight On Azman Air Suspension’ which was made accessible to Top Naija.

Adurogboye stated that the civil aviation regulator of the Nigerian airspace will not be blackmailed and or threatened while performing its legal obligation.

Top Naija had earlier stated that the NCAA suspended the operations of Azman Air on Tuesday after the airline underwent three major events in quick progression. The NCAA had likewise given the airline order to go through a safety audit to find out the root cause(s) of the incidents, and recommend remedial actions to prevent re-occurrence.

According to a statement by Azman Air, it claimed that the airline conformed to the safety procedures, and was safe to operate.

As indicated in NCAA statement on Friday, it said, “Over a period of about six weeks, Azman Air Boeing 737 aircraft operating scheduled passenger flights were involved in three separate incidents, resulting in damage to the aircraft in each case but with no loss of life, for which we are grateful to God.”

The NCAA further said the Accident Investigation Bureau is presently investigating the “serious incidents”, stating that it carried out its responsibility as the regulator and sanctioned the engineers of the aircraft and Azman Air itself for specific breaches of safety policies but the fines have not been paid.

“The alarming trend of tyre failures, in combination with improper tyre maintenance procedures, are a clear and strong indication of an accident chain formation in its final stages. There was an urgent need to break the accident chain before a completely avoidable national tragedy occurs. No responsible Civil Aviation Authority will fold its arms and wait for the next incident to occur, perhaps a fatal accident, before taking action,” it stated.

“Finally, neither the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority nor its Director General will succumb to any blackmail and or threat in carrying out the statutory responsibility of the safety and security oversight, in addition to the economic regulation, of the civil aviation industry in Nigeria, as enshrined in the 2006 Civil Aviation Act,” the statement ended.