Azman Air Limited has asked the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to lift its suspension of its operations stressing that the regulatory agency’s decision was too hasty.
The NCAA on Tuesday suspended the Kano-based airline airline for operational lapses and failure to comply with aviation safety guidelines and protection of passengers’ rights.
Passengers on Azman Air narrowly escaped a fatal crash on Monday when the flight had a tyre burst while landing in Kaduna. A similar incident occurred two weeks ago at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja when a Azman aircraft sustained tyre damage on landing at the airport.
But in a letter to the NCAA, the airline’s accountable manager, Muhammad Hadi Abdulmunaf, said even though the NCAA investigated two of the three incidents which happened this month and cleared the aircraft for operations, the third incident had not been investigated, hence there is no basis for suspension.
The airline further asked the NCAA to reverse the suspension “in line with the established precedent in respect of other airlines which has similar incidents/experiences in the past. This is particularly necessary in the interest of justice, fairness, and fairplay.”
The letter with title: Re: Suspension of Parts A3 and D43 of the Operations Specifications Issued to Azman Air” reads: “Shortly after recur of the letter, we received a zoom conference invitation which was held between 1pm to 2pm on Tuesday (16/03/2021) surprisingly, the reason or grounds for suspension on Azman operations was not contained in the letter under reference, nor discussed at the zoom conference.
“In fact all Azman officials request with reasons or ground was not attended to. Instead , attempt was made by the chief host (Engr. Ajiboye) to link the Azman Aircraft wheel burst in Lagos on (16/02/2021) with 5N-SYS which occurred on (16/02/2021) with recent Kaduna wheel burst of flight 5N-YSM which happened on 15/03/2021.
“Instructively, the NCAA and AIB have cleared Azman Air Aircraft to continue its operations. Also the incident that happened with regards to an object falling from Aircraft 5incidents/experiences in the past. This is particularly necessary in the interest of justice, fairness, and fairplay.” N-SYS has technically been investigated and cleared by the NCAA with a sanction to Azman Air and the staff from Azman Air in Abuja on (8/03/2021).