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Nigeria Grounds Local Airline, Sudan Jet for Safety Reasons

Posted on: Saturday, 11 February 2006, 09:00 CST

Nigeria grounds local airline, Sudan jet for safety reasons

LAGOS, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian aviation authorities have grounded a local airline, and a Sudan Airways Boeing 747-100 plane for safety reasons, an aviation spokesman said on Friday.

Sam Adurogboye, spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said in a statement that the Kings Airlines was suspended pending the outcome of the authority's investigations.

"It came to the notice of the NCAA that two of the management staff of Kings Airlines, the quality assurance manager and the chief engineer, are no longer serving the airline in any capacity, " said Adurogboye. "This amounts to a breach of the requirements of the Civil Aviation Air Navigation Regulations."

Tasiobi Obed, the airline's chief engineer, had on Wednesday told reporters how he incurred the wrath of the airline's chief executive for his refusal to approve an unserviceable aircraft for a flight to the southern city of Enugu.

Adurogboye explained that airline had also violated the procedures for reporting failures and defects in its aircraft in accordance with the air navigation regulations.

In a related development, a Boeing 747-100 plane in the Sudan Airways fleet has been grounded by the NCAA for safety reasons after it landed in the northern city of Kano early this week.

"The aircraft was rejected for the Muslim and Christian pilgrimages. The aircraft remains grounded until the safety lapses are rectified," the spokesman said.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has promised to do everything to improve the country's air safety after three air disasters late last year that left more than 200 dead. The moves he took include the suspension of several planes in service for more than 20 years or even over 30 years.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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