NCAA Finally Grounds Amaechi's Aircraft

Governor  Rotimi Amaechi

                                

As the controversy rages over the alleged delay of Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s aircraft from taking off in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Friday, according to THISDAY, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Saturday grounded the governor’s plane, a Bombardier -BD  700-1A11(Global Express) aircraft, with registration number N565RS. NCAA claims the aircraft has expired clearance approval effective April 2, 2013.

The Director of Airworthiness Standards of the authority, Benedict Adeyileka, who announced the grounding of the plane, said the aircraft was operating illegally. "The controversial aircraft on the service of Governor Rotimi  Amaechi  is operating illegally in the country, as it lacks documentation to enable it operate here,” Adeyinka said.

The aircraft, it was learnt, was supposed to have left Nigeria on April 2, as stipulated by its flight clearance, which legalised it to enter the country on March 28, and leave on the said date, plus or minus 48 hours. The Rivers State government declined comment last night on the grounding of the aircraft, saying it would give a full report on the matter later.

An NCAA document with Ref: NCAA/daws/13/VOL. 1/125, made available to THISDAY yesterday, indicated that the aircraft might be operating illegally in the country.

According to the document, “The aircraft has been operating into and out of Nigeria on an ad-hoc basis since January 2013. The last flight clearance approved for the aircraft was on the route DGAA (Accra) –DNPO (Port Harcourt) –DGAA (Accra) for the date 28th March to 2nd April, 2013.”

The document also showed that Caverton Helicopters, a domestic operator that specialises in helicopter operation, made the clearance application.

The document added that the aircraft was registered in the United States of America “and the registered owner is Bank of Utah Trustee, 200E South Temple Ste 210, Salt Lake City, Utah. The operator of the aircraft is ACASS Canada.”

NCAA also said that the only name on the passenger manifest for all the flight clearance was Governor Amaechi.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Amaechi have continued to trade accusations over the delay of the governor’s aircraft in Akure.

Addressing a press conference earlier Saturday, NAMA Managing Director Nnamdi Udoh reiterated that for the aircraft to get a clearance to take off in accordance with the regulatory procedures, the aircraft pilot must declare the aircraft’s manifest, which he claimed the governor’s pilot did not do.

He said the delay in Akure was not more than a few minutes because, as the airport does not have runway lighting, no one could have allowed it to take off in the night for safety reasons.

“However, after due clearance and the provisions of the necessary logistics, the aircraft must submit the manifest of all passengers on-board, which the pilot of course at the point in time didn't have and it took like five minutes for him to submit but we must stress that we operate by rules and regulations, there are existing NOTAM (Notice to Air Men) for all non-scheduled operations to submit their manifest; it is a mandatory requirement before start-up is granted and this must be complied with.

“Aviation is not politics and we don't play politics in this industry. We appeal to pilots and operators to please comply with the operating rules at our airports.”

Udoh explained that the airport manager by regulation had no power on his own to cler any aircraft to take off at the time the governor's flight took off, as the airport is only meant for daylight operation. So approval was sought from aviation authorities before the aircraft was cleared.

But Amaechi, speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, said contrary to the claims of the aviation authorities, the pilot of the flight filed the flight plan and declared the manifest of the flight, but despite meeting these regulatory conditions the flight was also barred from taking off.

He described the Akure delay as shameful and ludicrous, stressing that the airport authorities were not telling Nigerians the truth.

Iyofor said there were unclear motives for the delay of the governor's flight.

Narrating how the aircraft was grounded, Iyofor said: “We had set out from Abuja in the morning of Friday April 26, 2013 to Imo State to attend the funeral rites of the younger sister of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

“Our plane, a Bombardier jet owned by the Rivers State Government, landed at the airport in Owerri. It was in Owerri that the pilot of our plane was first tipped off that there is a plot to ground our plane in Owerri that Friday.

“Fortunately for us, we took off from Owerri airport and arrived at Akure airport en-route to Ekiti for the burial of the Deputy Governor of Ekiti State Funmilayo Olayinka without any incident.

“On the flight to Akure was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, whom we met in Imo State and who was also heading to Ekiti for the burial of Mrs. Olayinka.

“Also on the flight were the Governor of Rivers State; the Director-General, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Asishana Bayo Okauru; Kalabari Prince and politician, Prince Tonye Princewil; and some aides of the governor.”

He said the pilot of the plane, on arrival at the Akure airport, made the necessary documentations while the party left for Ekiti.

Iyofor said: “Once our party left the Akure airport for Ekiti, our pilot went to the airport offices to make statutory airport payments and fees, file his flight plan and declare his manifest.

“After filing his fight plan and declaring his manifest, our pilot was told to go and see the Controller. The Controller bluntly told him that the Rivers Government plane would not be allowed to leave the airport. In other words, the plane had been grounded!

“He said the plane should have been grounded in Owerri. The Controller on duty at the airport in Akure mentioned some vague issues relating to the customs papers of the plane, which has been flying in Nigeria for many months? That didn’t make any sense to the pilot.

“He enquired on whose orders the plane was being grounded, he was told that it was the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA). And that he should reach the NAMA MD.”

Iyofor said by the time the party, which now included four members of the House of Representatives, returned to the airport, there was confusion.

“Calls were being made as these two democratically elected leaders, furious and perplexed, tried to fathom what could have caused this monumental embarrassment to them and their offices.

“After trying fruitlessly for some time to get the plane released, Speaker Tambuwal then offered to fly Governor Amaechi to Port Harcourt with the plane (another small aircraft) that brought the other four Honourable members to Akure. To accommodate Governor Amaechi in the small aircraft, one of the House of Representatives members offered his seat to the governor.

“The pilot of the Rivers State Government plane was already locking up the aircraft for us to leave for Lagos by road when a call eventually came through that the plane could now leave. The Controller received a directive to allow the plane fly out of Akure. The decision to let us go, we later learnt, was due to the pressure brought on the aviation authorities by Speaker Tambuwal.”