Controversy has continued to trail the Aero Contractors’ use of ladder to disembark passengers when it operated charter services from Abuja to Sir Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Bauchi in Bauchi state on December 19, 2015.
The report has gone viral and different analysts have described the incident as gross safety breach, a compromise on security and shortcoming of international aviation regulations.
Bauchi State Government has however shifted the blame to others for the shortcoming of the airport, being ill equipped for providing ground services to airlines.
But the Aero Contractors has been indicted variously for not being able to confirm by eyewitness account, the availability of the equipment it needed to disembark passengers at arrival at the airport.
When the report went viral on the Internet on Saturday evening, Aero issued a statement and explained that when the air stair was not provided by the ground staff, the passengers agitation prompted the pilot to allow them disembark with a ladder.
On Monday, the airline in a press conference explained further that the pilot in command, Captain Nikcevic Vlado told the airline management he allowed the ladder to be used because of the agitation of the people on board.
Aero explained that the aircraft was chartered for a wedding and the groom who was on board the flight became restive along with the other wedding guests when there was delay caused by the inability of the airport management to provide air stairs for the disembarkation of the people on board.
Aero management said Captain Vlado felt that he could not delay the passengers anymore because he was unsure of the temperament of the passengers on-board, who needed to meet up with the ceremony.
It also explained that the airline was assured of adequate ground handling services by the Bauchi Airport Manager before the airline embarked on the flight with B737—500 series with registration 5N-BLG.
The airline noted that the charter was booked by a group of young people, who were to attend a wedding party and that the groom was also on board. He noted that on December 18, 2015, the airline Head of Ground Operations, Mr. Peter Omata confirmed the handling of the flight through the airport manager of Bauchi, Mr. Abubakar and that he also confirmed on many occasions the availability of the air stairs and cost.
But industry observers have criticised Aero for depending on telephone communication without any written assurance about availability of ground equipment at the airport. They described Aero’s action as reckless and a compromise on the airline’s integrity.
The Accountable Manager and Managing Director, Aero Contractors, Capt Russel Lee Foon explained that prior to leaving Abuja, the flight dispatcher contacted the Airport Manager to advise that the aircraft was taxing out and he confirmed that they were ready to receive the flight.
According to him, “At 10:42 the aircraft touched down on Runway 35 at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport. The controller advised the crew that due the absence of marshallers and no ramp officials of any sort that parking would be at their own discretion.
“At 10:44 the flight dispatcher on board contacted the Airport Manager to advise him that they were on the ground, to which he confirmed that he was seeing the aircraft on taxi and that they were waiting. After parking the Captain reports that they waited for up to 10 minutes for the stairs to be brought to the aircraft but no assistance or stairs came to the aircraft. The Captain reported that he informed the passengers of the situation as they were beginning to get agitated. What was not known to the crew at the beginning of the flight was that the groom of the wedding was on board the flight. The wedding was to be started in another 20 minutes.”
But reports from Bauchi alleged that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was in charge of the airport and therefore should be held responsible for the shortcomings at the airport.
FAAN in a response to the allegation dissociated itself from the claims and said it was not responsible for Aero’s ordeals at Bauchi airport. The agency added it had nothing to do with such responsibility at an airport, adding that ground handling was never part of its responsibilities.
A day after the incident, the Ministry of Aviation issued a statement, promising it would investigate the action of the airline. On Tuesday night, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) issued a sanction, penalising Aero ‘several millions’ of Naira but did not mention the exact amount of money.
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,” NCAA said in a statement.
But NCAA was also indicted by industry critics who said that the regulatory body not effectively inspect airports and insist that all necessary facilities and equipment to ensure safety and facilitation were provided and according to a source, “Once NCAA comes to inspect a newly built airport and approves it, it does not go back to check whether the airport management is abiding by the regulations. It is the failure of NCAA that none of Nigeria’s airports is certified by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and many airports owned by state government are not kept under regular scrutiny.
Aero was also accused of not showing seriousness in keeping with regulation standard while operating charter services. Industry analysts said if the Aero incident was not well handled it might affect the safety rating of Nigerian airlines, the aviation safety in Nigeria and might also up insurance premium for the local carriers due to supposed increase in country risk.
