FG suspends Azman Air to avoid plane crash

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended Azman Air over safety issues.

The decision was taken at a management meeting of NCAA on Monday after an Azman Air plane recorded another tyre burst in a month.

NCAA Director-General, Musa Nuhu, said all Boeing 737 aircraft on the fleet of AZMAN Air have also been grounded.

The suspension came on the heels of an incident involving an Azman Air plane that had a burst tyre on landing at the Lagos airport on February 16.

Nuhu said the NCAA acted in pursuant to Section 35 (2) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3 (A) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs) 2015.

Nuhu said the suspension would enable the NCAA conduct an audit of the airline to determine the root cause of the incidents and recommend corrective actions to forestall recurrence and avoid tragedy.

“We regret the inconvenience this action may cause to the public, particularly to Azman Air passengers,” Nuhu said.

“But the need to ensure the safety of air transport and protect the public interest cannot be compromised.

“We will continue to ensure compliance to NCAA regulations in the interest of safety and will view any violations seriously.”

Azman Air acknowledged the suspension via its Twitter account and promised to cooperate with the authorities.

“Due to our strong stance on safety, Azman Air will be undergoing an audit of its safety processes as supervised by the regulators,” the airline tweeted on Tuesday morning.

In this regard, all our operations are, hereby, suspended. We are on our toes to restore operations within a short period.

“Kindly accept our apologies,” Azman Air said.