Indications have emerged that undue political pressure being mounted on Caverton Helicopters was behind the attempt by the company to disown its relationship with the Rivers State-owned aircraft, a Bombardier Global Express, currently grounded by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, in Port Harcourt.

Findings by Vanguard revealed that apart from applying to the Aviation Ministry for permit to import and operate the said aircraft, Caverton has been responsible for obtaining most of the operational clearance for the aircraft with call signal N565RS, which the Rivers State government acquired from the United States of America in September 2012.

Documents exclusively obtained by Vanguard from the Aviation Ministry indicated that Caverton came under pressure to deny any business dealings with the Rivers State government, when in reality it has been dealing with several aviation parastatals on behalf of the state government.

It was learnt that following a business relationship with Rivers State Caverton formally applied to the Aviation Minister on August 27, 2012, requesting for approval to bring in the aircraft and operate on behalf of the state.

READ MORE: http://flynaija.org/how-political-pressure-forced-caverton-to-disown-rivers-govt-over-aircraft/