The federal government has banned
Boeing 737 Max airplanes from flying into Nigeria’s airspace following a fatal
crash in Ethiopia over the weekend.
Hadi Sirika, minister of state,
aviation, disclosed this to state house correspondents at the end of the
federal executive council (FEC) meeting,
presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Regarding Boeing 737 Max 8 and
Max 9, that has been in the news recently, there is no cause for alarm as there
is no operator in Nigeria that is using that type of airplane,” he said.
“The Nigeria Civil Aviation
Authority, whose mandate it is to issue advisory, has already issued advisory
that nobody should fly into Nigeria or out of Nigeria using Boeing 737 Max 8
and Max 9, pending the determination of the actual cause of the crash in
Ethiopia and also pending the outcome of the response of the manufacturer,
which is Messers Boeing.
“Regardless of the enormous
safety records of this plane 737, it has caused concern in the world of aviation
and you know aviation is universal, whatever affects one affects the other
because aircraft will be flying in and out. So, we have issued directive that
no operator with Boeing 737 Max 8 or Max 9 should operate into and outside our
airports and this is being carried out.”
He said although two Nigerian
airlines had placed order for the model, it would take two years for the
aircraft to be delivered.
Sirika said two years is enough
time for Boeing to rectify the problem leading to crashes.
“Regarding Air Peace and Arik
orders, whether those orders were confirmed or intent, it is to our knowledge
in the ministry that they won’t be in the country until the next two years or
so,” he said.
“And this is enough period to
sort out whatever problem it is with that plane. The world of aviation will not
be sleeping just as we in Nigeria will not be sleeping. And it is normal
standard practice that once a particular aircraft type is involved in accident
back to back, it is withdrawn from the market and see if there is something
they are doing wrong.
“And if it is confirmed that a
particular problem say for instance, landing gear, they will issue an
instruction to ground such plane worldwide until the problem is fix.”
The 157 persons on board the
ill-fated aircraft were killed. Two Nigerians: Pius Adesanmi, a professor, and
Abiodun Bashua, an ex-diplomat, lost their lives in the incident.
Sunday’s crash was the second
involving Boeing 737 Max 8 model in less than six months – a Lion Air plane of
the same model crashed in Indonesia in October last year, killing 189 people.
According to Al Jazeera, Boeing
has delivered about 350 of the approximately $120 million each 737 MAX 8’s till
date, with more than 4,500 in total ordered since 2017.
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