By Damilare Adeleye
Barr. Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has summoned heads of aviation regulatory agencies over safety issues experienced in the sector.
This is coming after a Lagos-Abuja flight of United Nigeria Airlines was diverted to Asaba, Delta State capital, due to poor weather conditions.
The flight, NUA 0504, took off on Sunday from the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Terminal 2, and was headed for Abuja.
However, the pilot grounded the aircraft at the Asaba International Airport, and that caused some confusion among the passengers.
Meanwhile, the minister said a thorough assessment of recent incidents will be carried out during the meeting with the aviation agencies’ bosses on Monday in Abuja.
The agencies include the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airport Authority Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The minister will meet with them “to discuss the recent accidents in the sector and will thereafter brief the press on the outcome of the deliberation to avert such occurrences.
“Due to safety concerns in the aviation sector expressed by members of the public, I have summoned the heads of the regulatory agencies to my office later today to review the incidents that are the causes of these concerns and to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to forestall future occurrence and to apply sanctions, where necessary, regarding the past incidents,” Keyamo tweeted.
It was reported that in 14 days, the country witnessed three runway excursions in two international airports.