Dana Airline refutes claims of poor maintenance

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Ogboro also denied that the airline's licence has been withdrawn by the federal government, claiming it was only grounded for routine checks.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

Lagos Tragedy : How Dana Air Crashed -Eyewitnesses

Residents of Iju-Ishaga, who thronged to the scene of the crash of a Dana aircraft that happened at Popoola Close by Ogunsoya Street, Paul Bus Stop, have given details of how the incident occurred.
P.M.NEWS learnt from them that many of the residents of the area had become suspicious of the aircraft following the way the pilot was attempting to manoeuvre the aircraft which was flying in an unstable manner.
According to many of them who spoke with P.M. NEWS, the large aircraft which government authorities believe had about 153 passengers on board was seen right from the Agbado-Oke Aro area of Ogun State struggling as it hovered overhead houses and eventually crashing with a loud noise that made a lot of residents run out of their houses.
“When this happened, some of us started trailing it but within seconds after we saw it in Oke-Aro area, it crashed at this place,” one of the residents said pointing to the wreckage of the aircraft.
Another resident of the area who gave his name as Adewale Ogunbanwo, said he was sleeping when he heard the sound of the aircraft and ran outside.
“I was looking at it till it crashed.
“The pilot really tried dodging houses and masts till it finally crashed into the warehouse and the storey-building which also had occupants in it.
“It hit a coconut tree, brought down the branches of a mango tree, hit a cow that was tied to a tree before it crashed.
“I am of the opinion that the pilot was actually looking for a safer place for the plane to crash because if not for his effort, it would have resulted in more casualties,” the eye-witness said.
John Sunday, a freelance journalist, who lives around the area told P.M.NEWS that, “from the way I saw the aircraft moving left and right in the air, I started shouting and telling people that the plane was about to crash.
“I had not finished saying so when we heard a loud bang. We rushed to the scene, but it had been engulfed in flames and there was nothing we could do at the stage but to do our best before government agents and security officials began to arrive the scene.”
Another resident of the area said the storey building which the aircraft crashed into had residents and that when they got to the scene, the trapped residents were screaming for help before the aircraft suddenly exploded with the flame engulfing the house.
According to him, of all the residents in the house as at the period, only an 11-year old boy who fell from one of the rooms where he was sleeping could be rescued alive.
“As I’m talking to you now, all the others trapped, shouted till they became silent,” he said.
Sunday Ola, one of the first people to get to the site, said it happened few minutes to 4pm, adding that the pilot actually struggled before he lost control of the aircraft.
He said before the aircraft hit the building, parts of it had started falling off as it hit objects on its way.
“We saw people’s hands stretching out of the parts of the plane that had fallen off.
“One of the passengers was holding a part of the plane as if he wanted to jump out, but the speed did not allow him. I’m very sure that he died with the others,” he said.
As at 8pm on Sunday, the victims were yet to be rescued as officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, the fire fighters, police and other law enforcement agencies made futile attempts to cordon off the area.
The mangled and shattered parts of the aircraft were also scattered everywhere around the scene of the incident as fire still raged.
An official of the Lagos State fire fighting service, who gave his name simply as Rasak, said he got the distress call concerning the crash and immediately summoned his men who had been trying to put out the fire.
According to him, rescue efforts had become difficult owing to the huge crowd at the scene of the incident.
Officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria could not comment as they said it was too early to state exactly what went wrong.
P.M.NEWS however learnt that they had become apprehensive when they lost contact with the aircraft few minutes to landing.
An official of FAAN said airport authority began to make frantic efforts to find it out before they heard of the crash.
While rescue efforts were on, some youths in the area busied themselves as they butchered the dead cow fighting over the pieces of meat.
Some other youths became scavengers as they began picking materials they could lay their hands on at the site of the crash.
When it was getting late and not much had been done, many rescuers began to return home as they believe the rescue efforts would continue on Monday.
They complained about lack of floodlights to ease the task.