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By Chinelo Obogo
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the wet-leased aircraft operated by United Nigeria Airlines pending the conclusion of investigation into Sunday’s flight diversion to Asaba, Daily Sun can reveal.
On Sunday, December 26, a former aide to the national chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC), Dawisu Tanko, posted on X, that a United Nigeria flight which he boarded headed for Abuja, informed passengers that they had arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, only to discover that they had landed in Asaba International Airport.
He said: “We departed Lagos about an hour ago on @flyunitedng to Abuja and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we have arrived at Abuja, only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba. Apparently, our pilot was given the wrong flight plan from Lagos.”
But the airline responded to Daily Sun’s inquiry, saying that it temporarily diverted its flight NUA 0504 to Asaba due to poor destination weather. The Head, Corporate Communications for the airline, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, said in a statement
that the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed but that a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba, creating confusion among the passengers.
However, following this incident, there were discrepancies in the cause of the diversion when Air Traffic Controllers countered this claim, insisting that there was favourable weather conditions in Abuja at the time of the diversion.
After a post-incident meeting, the NCAA said the airline’s explanation is unacceptable, prompting the suspension of its wet lease pending further investigation. The DG of the regulatory agency, Capt. Musa Nuhu, expressed concern about the presence of foreign pilots in the cockpit and their understanding of Nigerian airspace, questioning the necessity of wet leasing.
In a statement, Nuhu said: “The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding United Nigeria flight NUA 0506 to Asaba and the confusion it has created in the public domain. However, preliminary steps have been taken pending conclusions of ongoing investigation. The Authority wishes to reassure the traveling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry.”
The airline’s spokesperson confirmed the suspension to Daily Sun pending the outcome of NCAA’s investigation. He insisted however that the airline has only one wet leased aircraft in its fleet.
