Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, on Thursday, justified his decision to ground operations of Dana Air, saying an audit report carried out under his predecessor confirmed the airline’s unhealthy status.
Keyamo, who stressed that the internal reports, which was done two years ago, showed that Dana Air was unfit to fly, said the consistent incidents experienced by the airline made him call for a suspension.
Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels TV programme, he said: “I am sure you have heard consistent incidents involving Dana Air before I came into office. I am sure you heard that, at a point, on approach to the runway, the door of its (Dan Air) aircraft flew open. I am sure you know that popular incident. Who are the engineers that are supposed to look at this if the door of an aircraft flew open?
“There were internal reports before I came in under my predecessor that showed a series of infractions by the airline, and the conclusion was that they were not healthy enough to fly. What they did, how they did it before they told them to start flying again, we don’t know. While we argue back and forth about who has power, my point is that the flying public is at risk, and if any tragic incident happens, it is the Minister that would be called. Nigerians will not spare the minister.
“The last thing I want to happen to me as Aviation Minister is to have blood on my hands. I mean the blood of innocent Nigerians caused by negligence or deep complicity of those who are supposed to be regulators of the aviation industry. As minister, my job is to supervise them, and to ensure they carry out their duties. My job is not to regulate. For those quoting the laws, they should know that I know the law more than they do.”
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