By Damola Emmanuel
Barring any last-minute shift, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, is about now meeting with heads of regulatory agencies under the Ministry, in his office in Abuja, ostensibly to review recent incidents in the aviation sector with a view to enhancing safety of passengers and Nigeria’s aerospace.
The Minister revealed this, himself, via a post on his official X handle, @fkeyamo, stating:
“Due to safety concerns in the aviation sector expressed by members of the public, I have summoned the heads of the regulatory agencies to my office later today to review the incidents that are the cause of these concerns and to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to forestall future occurrence and to apply sanctions, where necessary, regarding the past incidents.”
The Crest recalls the latest incident involving an Abuja-bound United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) flight, which, the operators later explained, was diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor weather at its destinations.
The initial apprehension (by passengers on board) was that the Lagos-Abuja flight missed its way, as the crew announced arrival at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, when in fact the plane had landed at the Asaba International Airport, in the Delta State capital.
The inaccurate report of destination, a report in The Guardian said, had thrown the passengers into confusion, triggering a deluge of snide remarks and negative comments on social media.
However, UNA’s Head of Corporate Communications, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, cleared the air later, saying that the diversion was in order, but admitted an error on the part of the crew on arrival at Asaba.
Uchegbu, according to the report, had noted that the flight UNA 0504, operating from the Murtala Muhammad Airport II terminal (MMA2) in Lagos, made the temporary diversion to Asaba International Airport for safety reasons.
He said: “The pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed.
“However, a wrong announcement was made by the cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba, creating confusion among the passengers.” Uchegbu added that the aircraft later landed safely in Abuja following improvement on destination weather.
The Guardian recalled that occasional errors in flight plans was not new to global commercial aviation. It cited the instance of, not too long ago, of a British Airways flight destined for Düsseldorf in Germany but landed in Edinburgh by mistake, after the flight paperwork was submitted incorrectly.
The passengers only realised the error when the plane landed and the “welcome to Edinburgh” announcement was made. The plane, which started at London’s City Airport, was then redirected and landed in Düsseldorf.”
