Dana Airline: House Insists on Revocation of Licence, Sack of Demuren

 The  House of Representatives thursday  urged the  executive arm of government to implement the report of the Joint Aviation Committee of the  National Assembly  on the crash of Dana Airlines.

The report made several recommendations principal among which  were  the sack of the Director General,  Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren and revocation of the licence of Dana Airlines.
In a motion sponsored by Hon. Ossai Ossai (PDP/Delta), the House expressed dismay that while the issues surrounding the crash were yet to be resolved,  the Federal Government lifted the suspension it earlier placed on the operations of the airline.

The lawmaker expressed  displeasure  over the resumption of flights by Dana airline and described it as a defiance of the resolution passed by the lawmakers.
Chairman of the House  Committee on Aviation,  Hon. Nkeiruka  Onyejeocha (PDP/Abia)  had  earlier  taken exception to Dana Airline’s resumption of flights.
The lawmaker argued that it was wrong to let Dana Airline off the hook when  all issues relating to the crash including issues of compensation to victims of the crash  and  the  safety of the fleet  had  not been resolved.

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Aviation had recommended that Dana Airline’s licence be revoked because it was not issued in compliance with NCAA’s Civil Regulations Guidelines 2009.
In its report on the crash of Dana and Allied aircraft, the Joint Committee said in the course of its investigations, it discovered that the NCAA did not comply with the procedure for the issuance of Airlines Operator Certificate (AOC) to Dana Airlines.
It also said that between October 2009 and May 2012, Dana recorded fourteen (14) air returns caused by system failure out of which the  crashed aircraft accounted for five.

The report also observed that the ill-fated Dana aircraft (5N-RAM) was insured by Prestige Insurance Company owned by Dana Group of Companies. According to the report, the company could not avail the committee of any evidence to support their claim that the aircraft was also insured by Lloyd of London.
The resolution also directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to recover the N35.5billion intervention fund extended to Air Nigeria through the United Bank for Africa (UBA) but which was allegedly diverted to other private uses.



Source: thisdaylive