The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has banned the American pilot involved in the aviation incident at Asaba Airport on June 10 from operating in the Nigeria airspace and suspended the aircraft’s First Officer pending the conclusion of current investigations. GeographicReference
Daily Trust says that the Director-General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo made this known yesterday on the sidelines of the Airport Business Summit in Lagos.
The aircraft, a Bombardier Challenger 601-3A with American registration N989BC and owned by VMO Aero Limited, was claimed to have landed on an unfinished road instead of the runway at Asaba Airport.
Najomo stated, “Immediately after the safety investigation phase was completed by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), the regulatory aspect of the matter was transferred to the NCAA for enforcement action.
He added the pilot-in-command was barred from flight operations in Nigeria and banned from flying in the country’s airspace while the aircraft was grounded with its Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) suspended.
On the development, Najomo stated, “Investigation is still ongoing as regards the Asaba incident. “The NSIB has handed over the investigation to us, the CAA, and we are doing our own investigation.”
He said the NSIB conducted the initial safety investigation, but now the case is in the regulatory phase, which is under the jurisdiction of the NCAA.
The NCAA boss also said the Department of State Services (DSS) had entered the probe, demonstrating the seriousness with which the authorities were approaching the situation.
Right now, the aeroplane is grounded, the PNCF is suspended, the pilots are suspended from flying in this airspace till we do our own inquiry. I have been a pilot for 45 years and I won’t see a road and land on the road. So we will see the other motives also.
“So the DSS got involved and they are investigating until those investigations come out, it remains like that,” he said.
Najomo informed the travelling public and the aviation industry that the NCAA will carry out a full and transparent inquiry into the facts surrounding the event and apply regulatory fines where warranted.
Last week, the NSIB released a preliminary report on the critical incident, which stated that the aircraft damaged its left nose-wheel assembly when it inadvertently landed on a road being constructed instead of the runway at the Asaba Airport.
The NSIB said the Bombardier Challenger aircraft, with registration number N989BC, was on an Instrument journey Rules (IFR) journey from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos to Asaba Airport on June 10, with seven persons on board, including four crew members and three passengers.
The crew requested a right orbit and Air Traffic Control authorised the crew’s request, the bureau said. The aircraft terminated its original approach to Runway 11, executed a missed approach and relocated for a second approach.
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