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NCAA begins audit of Azman, grounds carrier’s B737 planes, operations
- Concern over airlines’ frequent landing gear problem
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the operations of all the Boeing 737 aircraft in the Fleet of Azman Air Services Limited, with effect from March 15, 2021.
The aviation regulatory body took the measure following series of incidents involving Azman Air Boeing 737 Aircraft, just as the agency disclosed that it acted 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,
The Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu stated that the suspension was to enable the authority conduct an audit of the airline to determine the root cause(s) of the incidents, and recommend corrective actions to forestall re-occurrence.
According to Nuhu, “The NCAA regrets the inconvenience this action may cause to the public, particularly to Azman air passengers but the need to ensure the safety of Air Transport and protect the public interest, cannot be compromised.
He further stated that the NCAA would continue to ensure compliance to its regulations in the interest of safety and will viewed any violation(s) seriously.
Aviation Metric learnt that the decision to suspend the airline was taken at a management meeting of NCAA on Monday after one of the company’s planes recorded another second tyre burst in a month.
An Azman Air from Kaduna to Murtala Muhammad airport in Lagos had a landing gear problem from which has become frequent with the airline.
The aviation regulatory agency faulted the pilot that flew the aircraft from Kaduna as a terrible sound was noticed after takeoff, despite that he continue with the journey.
The NCAA DG on Monday after the meeting directed a letter be written to the airline suspending its operation.
It would be recalled that a Boeing 737-500 aircraft belonging to AZMAN Air had a burst tyre on landing at the runway of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport terminal in Lagos on February 16th,2021.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) temporarily closed the runway.
A FAAN statement read: “FAAN has announced a temporary closure of Runway 18R/36L at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.
“The closure is due to a landing incident involving a Boeing 737 Azman Air aircraft with registration 5N SYS, and flight number ZQ2325.”
“The aircraft had a tyre burst after landing on this runway.All passengers and crew onboard the aircraft were safely evacuated at 1908 hours”.
When contacted, AZMAN Airline General Manager, Malam Muhammad Lawan told our correspondent on Tuesday that he was in a meeting and promised to call back immediately after.
The aviation industry in Nigeria is experiencing steady increase of aircraft tyre burst particularly on the B737 aircraft type which form 80 per cent of aircraft types used in the country.
Just last week an Air Peace aircraft was involved in serious incident of tyre burst after landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The aircraft, with 127 passengers and six crew members onboard was en-route Lagos from Abuja, when the plane had a burst tyre on landing on Runway 18R of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and taxied to the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to park.
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