Dana didn’t heed my warning – Akpabio

Posted by admin Akwa Ibom, Headlines, State News Monday, June 11th, 2012

AKWA Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio on Sunday said he had earlier lodged a complaint with the management of Dana Air before the unfortunate plane crashed at Iju-Ishaga, Lagos on June 3.

The governor regretted that his warning was not heeded.

Akpabio told reporters at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, that he intimated the management of the complaints he received about a faulty aircraft being used by the airline.

He said, “I received complaints from most Dana Air users in my state, complaining of what people may call near misses or crashes, like non-operational landing gear and all sorts of problems.

“I told the management why experimenting with the lives of Nigerians. I warned the management to recall what happened to ADC airline.

“This was the way ADC started and all of a sudden, they were putting faulty aircraft in the air.

“At the end, so many lives were lost and unfortunately, you cannot replace lives.”

He said he warned Dana to ensure adequate maintenance or suspend its flight to enable a thorough check of the aircraft in its fleet.

“But unfortunately, that is all in the past now. The warning probably was not heeded by the management of Dana and a situation has already occurred.

The governor noted that government must ensure proper monitoring of airlines operating in the country to ensure they were airworthy.

He also urged the Federal Government to think of how the country would have a befitting national carrier that would be the first choice to fly.

“A country with 160 million people without a national carrier is unthinkable, because almost half of the population have no access to airplanes,” he said.

-Punchwp_posts