Amid mounting global concerns over the safety of the state-of-the-art Boeing-737 Max aircraft that crashed and killed all 157 passengers and crew in Ethiopia on Sunday, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, said contrary to the concern generated by Ethiopian Airlines’ unfortunate incident, there was no cause for alarm because no Boeing 737 MAX 8 was being operated by any Nigerian airline. Sirika disclosed this in a statement by James Odaudu, Deputy Director, Press and Public Affairs, Federal Ministry of Transportation, on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to the Minister, aviation is one the world over, and that any accident anywhere is a tragedy to the global aviation industry. “Nigeria identifies and commiserates with the Ethiopian aviation authorities those who have lost loved ones, including two distinguished Nigerians, in their moment of grief. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the industry regulator in Nigeria, has issued the necessary advisory as it relates to the country. As we continue to mourn the ET crash in Addis, and pray for the victims, we wish to reassure Nigerians that we do not have any Boeing 737 Max on Nigeria’s register to worry about,” the minister said, assuring Nigerians of the government’s commitment to creating an environment that guarantees safety and security in air transportation.
One hundred and fifty-seven passengers and crew from 35 countries, among them two Nigerians, and some two dozen UN staff, died on Sunday when the B-737Max aircraft operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. The aircraft lost contact with radar about six minutes after takeoff, en route to Nairobi, Kenya. Onboard were 149 passengers and eight crewmembers. The latest tragedy came after a similar flight operated by Lions Air of Indonesia went down over the Java Sea last October, killing all 189 people on board.
While the cause of the accident was yet unknown, Ethiopian Airlines has, however, grounded its four remaining B-737 MAX 8s “as an extra safety precaution.” Air Peace is the only Nigerian carrier that has placed order for 10 of such aircraft type at present but yet to take delivery of the aircraft. According to the statement by its spokesperson, Chris Iwarah, Air Peace is yet to take delivery of the aircraft as they are still at the design and configuration stage of the order. “This clarification has become necessary in view of numerous calls and enquiries on our response to the incidents involving the B737 Max 8 aircraft.
Since the accident occurred on Sunday, many issues had been raised concerning the aircraft with China and several other countries suspending the use of B737 Max in their fleets. Australia and Singapore on Tuesday banned the B-737 MAX planes from their airspace and airlines around the world grounded the jets. Britain, France and Germany on Tuesday joined a rapidly growing number of countries grounding the B-737 Max or turning it back from their airspace. Pressure grew on the USA to take action over the Boeing 737 Max 8 as Asian, Middle Eastern and then European nations and carriers gave in to concerns.
Turkish Airlines, Oman, Norwegian Air Shuttle and South Korean airline Eastar Jet were among the latest to halt use of the Boeing model. Ireland, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore suspended all flights into or out of their countries. Already, some were turning the planes away. A Turkish Airlines official said two Britain-bound planes returned to Istanbul after British airspace was closed to the B-737.
The US-based Boeing, however, said it has no reason to pull the popular aircraft from the skies. It does not intend to issue new recommendations about the aircraft to customers. Its technical team joined American, Israeli, United Arab Emirates, Kenyan and other aviation experts in the investigation led by Ethiopian authorities. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it expects Boeing would soon complete improvements to an automated anti-stall system suspected of contributing to the deadly crash of another new Boeing 737 Max 8 in October 2018.
Some US airlines expressed support for the B-737, and American Airlines and Southwest continued flying them. A vice president for American, the world’s biggest carrier that has 24 B-737 Max 8s, said they had “full confidence in the aircraft.” But others are pressing for action. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, representing over 26,000 flight attendants at American Airlines, called on CEO Doug Parker to “strongly consider grounding these planes until an investigation can be performed.” Consumer Reports called on airlines and the FAA to ground the jets until a thorough safety investigation is complete. Even President Trump weighed in, tweeting that additional “complexity creates danger” in modern aircraft and hinders pilots from making “split second decisions” to ensure passengers’ safety. He did not specifically mention the crashes but said: “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot.”
