The Senate has summoned Aviation Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi to appear before it to explain the state of the country’s aviation industry and brief members about the resurgence of air crashes that have claimed hundreds of lives in the country.
Following a motion by Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma (Imo West) titled Crash of Associated Airlines airplane, the upper chamber mandated its Committee on Aviation to investigate last week’s crash of a plane belonging to Associated Airline in Lagos while conveying the remains of late former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu to Akure for burial.
Asides Oduah, the Senate also invited chief executives of aviation parastatals to appear with the minister to answer questions on the state of the nation’s aviation sector.
According to the Senate, the invitations are in consonance with Section 67(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which empower it to invite any official of the government for questioning on national issues.
The lawmakers lamented the recent spate of air crashes in the country, ascribing them to the rot in the aviation sector and seeking immediate steps to halt the trend.
A sad Uzodinma said he observed with “ultimate sorrow” the unfortunate crash of the plane barely a minute after takeoff from the domestic wing of the airport, and lamented that 16 of the 20 passengers aboard the crashed plane have already been confirmed dead while four others who sustained varying degrees of injury are still receiving treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
Also on Tuesday, the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau revealed that the engines of the Embraer 120 aircraft have been moved to an undisclosed hangar at the Lagos airport.
Spokesman of the agency, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi dismissed reports that engines of the aircraft had been flown to Brazil, saying instead that the engines are being worked on as part of the ongoing probe into the cause of the crash. Oketunbi added that the engines may not be moved abroad at all, if investigations by experts probing the crash are concluded in-country.
“We are taking steps to advance the investigations into the crash. As at today we have moved the aircraft engines to an undisclosed hangar in Lagos Airport,” he said. “We are still examining the aircraft engines. The engines have not been flown abroad. It is the intensity of investigations that will determine whether they will be flown abroad.”
