Aviation Panel: Why Include Adc Airline Boss Whose Company's 2006 Crash Report Remains Unpublished?
Posted: June 12, 2012 - 15:18
Posted by siteadmin
The inclusion and participation of Captain Mfon Udom, MD/CEO and Co-owner of ADC Airlines (whose aircraft killed many passengers onboard the 29th October, 2006 crash) in the Federal Government's Technical and Administrative Review Panel on Domestic Airlines (a committee investigating DANA and other domestic airlines) is an unfortunate scenario.

It is sad that President Goodluck Jonathan and his government would include a man in the review panel whose own failure and negligence contributed to the death of precious Nigerians; who also has Indian connection (his insurers are Indians and DANA is an Indian-owned company) and who brought a team of lawyers to negotiate downwards some of the compensation paid to the victim's families to “only’ what ADC could afford.”

Aviation Development Company Airlines' (ADC) Flight 53 was a scheduled passenger flight operated by ADC Airlines that crashed on 29th October 2006 shortly after take-off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at around noon local time.

Immediately after take-off from Abuja, the Boeing 737 contacted the ground, broke up and caught fire in a corn field. The flight is reported to have had 104 people on board.

Muhammadu Maccido, the Sultan of Sokoto, the sultan's son, Senator Badamasi Maccido, Dr. Nnenna Mgbor, the first ever female West African E.N.T. Surgeon and Abdulrahman Shehu Shagari (no relation with the writer), son of former president Shehu Shagari among others were on the passenger list.

About nine (9) people survived. Among the survivors were the three (3) daughters of Ibrahim Idris, former Governor of Kogi State. A woman earlier counted among the dead also survived with no serious injuries from the plane which was heading to Sokoto State.

Like the current DANA crash, the ADC crash sparked intense national protest to improve the nation's aviation sector thereby leading to the suspension of ADC's operating license and replacement of the minister of aviation (Prof. Babalola Aborisade with Femi Fani-Kayode) and a complete overhaul of the Nigerian aviation sector.

After about six years without ADC's investigation result made known to the Nigerian public, one feels it is an insult on both the memory of ADC and DANA’s victims, their families and the entire nation for Mr. President to approve the inclusion of Captain Mfon Udom in the aviation review panel.

Where is due diligence? How can Capt. Udom still be asked to perform a public service in the aviation sector whose failure he has partly contributed to.

After being named as a member of the panel, one thought that the ADC boss would honour those who died in his company's plane crash or DANA crash victims by rejecting the appointment either on the grounds of sympathy for the victims or the airline involved nor the feeling that the public may misconstrue his job on the panel. But trust some Nigerian elites; Capt. Udom appeared at the inauguration of the panel on Monday in Abuja, unfazed.

Agreed that Captain Udom is an expert in his field but the moral (and what many see as an unhealthy) burden he carries should have made the Minister of Aviation or Mr. President to have a rethink on his inclusion.

Is it that our public officials have a short memory or it is simply a pure case of selective amnesia?

How can Aviation Minister Princess Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi include a man who still owes the dead compensation and forgiveness in a panel that ironically is supposed to look into how to avert future crashes or ensure prompt payment of compensation to crash victims?

While other members of the review panel led by the Chairman, Retired Group Captain John Obakpolor and Captain Ibrahim Mshelia are seasoned professionals who have had a distinguished career in the aviation sector, nevertheless one feels the inclusion of Capt. Udom will leave many discerning Nigerians and foreign aviation experts wondering if there is no sinister motive for including him...maybe to help water down the panel's recommendation or never to allow the panel’s report to be made public like that of the 2006 ADC crash.

Although President Jonathan has promised to fully implement the review panel's recommendations, nevertheless the inclusion of people like Captain Mfon Udom is one that has left many Nigerians asking if it is not a precursor to the report being dumped under the smelly Aso Rock rug of dead reports, like previous efforts.

Editor’s Note: Sumner Shagari Sambo is a journalist and Editor of NEWSMAN, an online news blog on Facebook.

http://saharareporters.com/article/aviation-panel-why-include-adc-airline-boss-whose-companys-2006-crash-report-remains-unpubli

Crash: We saw it coming – Tito
On June 13, 2012 · In News 7:16 amEmail1

LAGOS — Former Nigeria Airways pilot, Captain Tito Omaghomi, has said that concerned stakeholders in the aviation industry had seen the June 3 air crash involving Dana Airline coming because cutting corners was now the order of the day in the industry.

Speaking with a team of Vanguard editors, Captain Omaghomi, who has 35 years flying experience, described the Dana air accident as unnecessary and uncalled for.

He said: “We saw it coming. I remember giving a warning here some weeks ago before the Dana accident, that our airspace is no longer safe because people are now cutting corners in aviation and we have been saying this but nobody cared to listen.

“Aviation is not the place to give jobs to the boys, it is not a place where you must operate quota system. If all the best hands we can find come from the smallest village inNigeria, they should be put there.”

He maintained that the best safety device in the aviation sector was to have well maintained aircraft and well trained crew and asked why presidential aircraft do not have accident.

According to him, “presidential aircraft are well maintained and they have well-trained crew. Why can’t we transfer that maintenance culture of the presidential fleet to the commercial planes?”

Faulting President Goodluck Jonathan’s statement that those who are found to be responsible for the crash would be punished, Captain Omaghomi said: “Air accident is not investigated because they want to punish anybody because the engineer and all those who cleared the plane to fly will cover their tracks. Investigation is carried out to determine the cause in order to prevent future air mishap.”

On the panel set up by the Federal Government to probe the incident, he wondered what kind of report the panel would come up with where members of the panel were either staff of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, or ADC Airline that had not paid compensation to the victims of its air crash some years ago.

He also said the international community would not accord any recognition to the report of the panel because only Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, was recognised all over the world to investigate any air accident

He dismissed the argument that the age of the aircraft determines its safety in the sky saying age has nothing to do with planes. He explained that DC 3 planes which were used during the war are still being used in the U S. adding that what is important is to have new engines in the plane.