NCAA knocks Aero over ladder saga

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Tuesday announced that Aero Contractors Airlines has been sanctioned for the incident at Bauchi airport, in which passengers were disembark from one of its planes with the use of a ladder.

The NCAA said that in line with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) Aero will face applicable sanction.
Though, the specific sanction was not revealed, the agency said that it runs into millions of Naira.

Mr Sam Adurogboye, Ag General Manager, Public Relations, NCAA said that “In a letter conveying the sanction, the Director General of the Regulatory Authority, Capt. Muhtar Usman, said the action of Aero Contractors Airline in allowing the use of a ladder to disembark passengers from a Boeing 737 – 500 aircraft in a non-emergency situation is contrary to its approved aircraft handling manual.”

“Therefore this is a violation of Part 9.2.4.2(b) of Nig.CARs which part attracts a civil penalty. All relevant agencies made useful submissions during the course of the investigation.”

Read also: Aero disembarks passengers using ladder

The DG continued in the letter that, ‘’in view of the safety implications of your action you are hereby sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of Part 20.2.3(15) of the Nig.CARs.’’

“Although the incident did not result in any mishap, the aircraft is airworthy and the Crew well qualified to operate the flight. However, it is viewed as a breach and resultantly a fine running into millions of naira has been clamped on the airline to serve as deterrence and to forestall any similar infraction by any other airline operator.”
The Captain of the flight was similarly fined for failing to comply with the provisions contained in the aircraft manual.

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