Federal Government has banned Boeing 737 Max airplanes from flying into Nigeria’s airspace, until further notice.
Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made the declaration at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at in Abuja, yesterday. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane belonging to Ethiopian Airline crashed barely six minutes after take off and killed 157 persons on board, among which were two Nigerians- a professor and a diplomat.
According to Sirika, “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.
He added: “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. 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 And it is normal standard practice that once a particular aircraft type is involved in accident back-to-back, it is withdrawn from the market and see if there is something they are doing wrong.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, for instance, landing gear, they will issue an instruction to ground such plane worldwide until the problem is fixed.
SUN
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