Posted by By Emeka Mamah & Kenneth Ehigiator on
TWO occupants of a Beechcraft 200 executive jet died yesterday when the aircraft on its way to Abuja crashed soon after take off from the Kaduna airport.
KADUNA - TWO occupants of a Beechcraft 200 executive jet died yesterday when the aircraft on its way to Abuja crashed soon after take off from the Kaduna airport. The crash, which occurred at about 10:38a.m, claimed the lives of the pilot, Captain Ali Shuaibu, stepson of the National Chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ahmadu Ali and one Antony Kuma. The cause of crash was not immediately known.
Media Assistant to the Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Sam Adurogboye, told newsmen that the aircraft, marked N73MN, was a private jet owned and operated by one Alhaji Idima.
The aircraft, he said, was neither registered in Nigeria nor certified by the regulatory agency, the NCAA.
Mr Adurogboye said the flight from the Federal Aviation and Administration (FAA) crew also held American license and had been operating in Nigeria for eight years.
'The aircraft has American license, registered in America and returned to the country last Saturday after a regular maintenance at an FAA certified facility in the UK," Mr. Adurogboye said.
He said the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau (AIPB) had commenced investigation into the crash, and had notified the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
The NCAA spokesman said since the aircraft was not registered in Nigeria, the regulatory agency had no oversight functions over it. According to him, only the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the United States had over-sight roles over the ill-fated aircraft.
He said the NCAA could only advise the US Civil Aviation Authority on the ill-fated air-craft.
This crash came five weeks after the crash of Bellview Airline's Boeing 737-200 air-craft at Lisa, Ogun State which claimed the lives of all 117 persons on board.
Investigations revealed that the aircraft crashed soon after take off and burst into flame with both the pilot and co-pilot burnt beyond recognition. When newsmen visited the airport, about 30 kilometres from the city centre, the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot had been retrieved from the wreckage by fire fighters and were being conveyed to the motuary in a pick up van with number plate FG135A42 belonging to FAAN. The aircraft was said to be heading to Abuja when it crashed.However, newsmen were barred from gaining access to the tarmac of the airport where the plane crashed while passengers who were expected to take off for Lagos aboard a Chanchangi Airline plane were kept waiting at the departure hall of the airport.
The Airport Manager, Alhaji Salisu Mohammed, refused to see newmen while his staff tossed the newmen round the airport.Some of the passengers were only informed that there was a little problem. They were kept waiting endlessly for their flight.
As at the 4.00pm, the stranded passengers who were scheduled to leave for Lagos at about 11.00a.m. were yet to be informed about the incident at the airport. Some of them asked questions about when they saw newsmen around the airport.
Attempts by newmen to get an official statement from the management of the airport proved abortive as they resorted to playing hide and seek with newsmen. When reporters arrived the airport, they were informed that the airport manager was at the crash scene. Thereafter, they were tossed around the airport for over three hours with nobody to voluntire any information.
Although it was said that the aircraft was a two-seater aircraft, ambulances were seeing going in andout of the place for more than two hours after the crash and after the bodies of the pilot and co-pilotwere taken away.It was not, however, clear what they were doing at the crash site which could be seen metres away from the position where journalists stood. All entreaties to get at least the camera crew to takepictures of the site failed. The intervention of the Police Commissioner, Mr John Ahmadu, yeilded no result as FAAN security personnel maintained a rigid position, blocking journalists and denying them access to the Police boss to get his opinion on what he saw on ground.When the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police and the Diretor of State Security Service (SSS) visitedthe crash site, there were no personnel of the airport to explain to them what happened untill they came to the control tower in search of the airport manager.
Runway 18R
Meanwhile, the official opening of runway 18R (right) of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, did not take place yesterday as planned.
NCAA spokesman, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said the runway would not be opened for use until the regulatory agency was through with analysis of the report submitted on the runway by its inspectors.
The NCAA has oversight functions for all facilities at the airport, including the runways.