THE Nigeria civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Saturday, declared that the controversial aircraft in the service of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State was on illegal operations in the country.

Consequently, the NCAA has grounded the Bombardier-BD 700 Global Express aircraft with registration number N565RS, which the authority said had an expired clearance approval effective 2 April.

Addressing reporters yesterday at the Aviation House, the headquarters of NCAA, the director of airworthiness standards, Mr Benedict Adeyileka, explained that while the aircraft was still operating illegally, it had been sighted in several places, including Owerri and Akure.

The NCAA director said about the incident:” The controversial aircraft on the service of Governor Rotimi Amaechi is operating illegally on the country.

“The aircraft a Bombardier BD 700, Global Express with registration number N565RS, has its clearance approval expired since Tuesday, April 2, 2013. By our records the last flight clearance for this aircraft was approved for operations on Thursday, March 28, 2013 on Accra/Port Harcourt and Accra to terminate on April 2, 2013. With this development, the aircraft has exceeded the extra two days or 48 hours leeway for it to leave the country.

“While still operating illegally, the aircraft has been sighted in several places, including Owerri and Akure. The owner of this aircraft, according to the certificate of registration, is Bank of Utah Trustees of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.”

Meanwhile, As controversy rages on over Friday’s alleged refusal by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to grant Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi’s plane start up to leave the Akure airport, the management of the agency, yesterday, insisted that the development was due to the failure of the pilot of the plane to submit the required manifest of passengers on board and that it was untrue that the plane was grounded by the airspace manager.

Addressing a press conference at the NAMA headquarters, the Managing Director of the agency, Nnamdi Udoh said contrary to the politicisation of the incident, the agency carried out its functions in line with the global aviation standard which he said did not accept any iota of politics.

His words: “By regulation, the manager has no power to clear any aircraft at that time of the day because Akure Airport operates day light operations. Approval must be given through the manager to the tower.

“After the clearance, the pilot must submit the manifest, which the pilot could not provide immediately. Manifest submission is a mandatory requirement before a start-up is granted. Aviation is not politics and we won’t dabble into politics.

But the Chief Press Secretary to Rt Hon. Amaechi, David Iyofor, countered the agency’s claim that the pilot violated operating rules by not filing a flight plan or declaring a manifest, saying “it is indeed most shameful and ludicrous that NAMA and the aviation authorities are now saying that they grounded the Rivers State Government plane because the pilot did not file a flight plan and declare a manifest. That’s a blatant lie; a big fat one at that.”

According to Iyofor, in a statement made available to Sunday Tribune, the Bombardier jet owned by the Rivers State Government, had landed at the airport in Owerri, where his principal had gone for the funeral rites of the younger sister of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha and it was in Owerri that “the pilot of the plane was first tipped off that there is a plot to ground our plane in Owerri.”

He noted that once the plane which conveyed Rt. Hon. Amaechi; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Asishana Bayo Okauru, Kalabari prince and politician, Prince Tonye Princewill and some aides of the governor touched down in Akure and they left for Ekiti by road, for the burial of the state’s late deputy governor, Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, the pilot went to the airport offices to make statutory airport payments and fees, file his flight plan and declare his manifest but was told by the Controller that the plane would not be allowed to leave the airport.

“NAMA and the aviation authorities should explain to Nigerians why an aircraft owned by a state government, that flew the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and a democratically elected governor of a state, who is also the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, would be grounded at an airport for no just cause?” Iyofor said.

However, NAMA insisted that the plane was not grounded by the airspace manager. Udoh said that the aircraft, Global Express, with the registration number N565RS, called for Air Traffic Controllers’ start up at 17:35, which was at once granted to the pilot at the Akure airport towers.
He added that the aircraft commenced taxing at 17:45 and departed at 17: 51.


http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/component/k2/item/10608-fg-grounds-amaechi-s-plane-claims-it-is-operating-illegally-nama-defends-self-river-gov-alleges-foul-play