Says it is too early to speculate cause of crash
ARTICLE
Dana Airline has refuted claims that Sunday's fatal plane crash in Lagos, was caused by poor maintenance.
Speaking on Wednesday, at a World Press Conference in Lagos, the company's Director, Francis Ogboro, said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash or "that two engines had failed."
"This will only be confirmed after the report of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority," he said.
Following the crash, there was public outcry over the state of the aircraft and the role of the regulatory bodies in the aviation industry.
The country was thrown into a state of mourning by the news that all 153 passengers booked on the flight had lost their lives.
But Ogboro disclosed that the company's Chief Engineer "was also on the flight."
"No captain or airline staff would go on a suicide mission," he said.
The press briefing, which was organised to update the public on developments in the aftermath of the plane crash, had representatives of Dana Airline, its insurance companies and the Lagos State government, in attendance.
Dana denies licence withdrawal
Ogboro also denied that the airline's licence has been withdrawn by the federal government, claiming it was only grounded for routine checks.
"Every time there is an incident like this, aircraft of that type are grounded for checks and that's what happened," he said.
He added that Dana Airline had ceased operations even before the routine suspension took effect.
Reacting to claims that principal officials of Dana Airline had fled the country, Ogboro also denied saying that a director that was out of the country at the time of the incident had flown back in.
He said, "You can go to the airport as I speak with you, the chairman of the company is there, the managing director is there."
Ogboro also denied allegations that the Dana aircraft that crashed on its way from Abuja to Lagos, had flown several routes on that day.
He added that the aircraft that purportedly had hydraulic problems was not the same plane that crashed.
Families to get compensation
Concerning the compensation of families affected by the crash, Ogboro assured of the company's readiness to adequately compensate such people for their loss.
Otunba Yomi Osikoya, who stood in for Lloyds of London, Dana Airline's Insurance company, said his company would not compensate below international standard.
Osikoya said airlines are required to provide $30,000 as initial compensation to each claimer within 30 days of an accident "leading to death or injury."
"But a substantive imposed a ceiling of $100,000 for each victim," he added.
Controversy over the number of victims
Meanwhile, the State Attorney General, Ade Ipaye, said a total of 149 bodies had been recovered from the crash site after the clean up exercise.
"Fifty-two identifiable bodies are at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital morgue, while 97 charred remains that could not be identified were taken to Mainland Hospital," he said.
The total recovery made however, falls short of the earlier figure of 153 passengers along with some residents, who were said to have lost their lives in the incident.
However, Ipaye described the latest casualty figure as tentative, which could be subject to change after a scientific process of identification is carried out.
"It's possible for a body bag to have more than one persons at the end of the day," he continued.
He however urged relations of the dead victims to exercise some patience as autopsies were being carried out for identification and record purposes.
Ipaye said that the delay in the collection of corpses would eventually assist families in claiming compensations.
"Hopefully, we are going to finish with the bodies that are identifiable by tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.
The Chief Medical Examiner, John Obafunwa, disclosed that his team had already carried out autopsy on 12 identifiable bodies, and that 18 would be done by Wednesday evening.
"The whole process, including for the 97 bodies that are not identifiable, should not take more than two weeks," he said
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