Dana plane crash: 58 families collect 30% payment

Culled from Premium Times.


Most of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition
More than 50% of families of Dana crash victims are yet to get any insurance payment
Less than half of the families of Dana Air crash victims have collected the initial 30 per cent payment made by the airlines insurers, an official of the National Insurance Commission, said on Thursday in Calabar.
Leonard Akah, the Deputy Director, Authorisation and Policy, at the commission, said that only 58 families collected the payment. He said this at a seminar for insurance journalists in Calabar with the theme “Making Insurance Work for All: The Micro Insurance Initiatives.”
According to him, the 30 per cent payment is the initial 30,000 dollars due to the victims in passenger liability claims.
“About 126 families’ submitted applications out of which 58 were cleared and have been settled so far,” he said. “This amount is exclusive of the pilots and the crew who have different claim calculations.”

Mr. Akah said the remaining applications had issues ranging from multiple people coming out as claimants for one victim, to non-submission of required documents for the claims.

He said that necessary documentation and proper identification have to be made before any payment can be made, adding that the issues involved have made it impossible for the claims to be paid within 30 days as required by law.
The deputy director said that the 30 per cent covers the passenger liability and third party accidents, among others. Mr. Akah said the remaining 70 per cent of the claims would be made after the processes of paying the claims have been concluded.
The insurance industry is expected to pay 350 million dollars as final claims for Dana Air crash.

AVIATION AGENCIES ADOPT AUTOMATION IN REVENUE COLLECTION

  
 
 
All agencies under the Federal Ministry of Aviation are to adopt the automation process in all revenue collection. The Agencies mostly affected in the exercise are the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
 
Before now, all revenues were collected manually, leading to huge loses as a result of the leakages inherent in the manual procedure. First Bank of Nigeria Plc, working with Experts and professional bodies like IATA, SITA, and Avitech; a Software Provider, amongst others is to lead the collection process. Avitech is to provide the automation platform and has a tripartite agreement with the NCAA, the airline operators and their individual banks. The Software Provider has been working with the NCAA since December, 2010.
 
Meanwhile, Heads of the agencies have expressed satisfaction with the automation of the revenue collection process, saying it would greatly enhance their revenue profile. Director General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren is particularly ecstatic about the potential which the automation process holds for the revenue profile of the agencies. He said:
 
''The former manual process of revenue collection was fraught with a lot of challenges. Apart from the leakages, the agencies were being owed heavily by the airlines and other bodies we were providing service so we are very pleased with the new development now because every agency will now have its share of revenue deducted and remitted to it at source and automatically. Moreover, they is an automated window where every agency can view every transaction, the system is very transparent and efficient.
 
''Aviation agencies had literally been using baskets to fetch water and you know what you get when you use baskets to fetch water, the system was fraught with too much leakages! Fortunately, that era is behind us now'', Demuren declared. Other Agency Heads expressed similar sentiments.
 
The proposal to automate all revenue collection  centres for the agencies was received with mixed feelings, but the Minister insists it is only those who have been benefiting from the porous system that can oppose a process that not only ensures transparency, but also puts more money in the coffers of government. ''But we have closed this factory for good'', she maintained. 
 
 
Joe Obi, SA (Media) to the Hon. Minister of Aviation.
 
Handheld Device.

Nigerian Aviation College NCAT, Zaria not for sale -Aviation Miniistry

NAN

The Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, said the Federal Government had no plan to sell the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Rather, she said government believed in growing and repositioning the institution to rank among the best aviation training centres in the world.

Oduah gave the assurance in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by Mr Joe Obi, her Special Adviser on Media.

The statement said she gave the assurance at the end of a meeting she held with the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

It added that the institution must be made to grow through a deliberate policy of professionalisation, partnership and collaboration with other reputable aviation training institutions around the world.

``I am an apostle of non-privatisation or concessioning of government institutions but an apostle of professionalistion.

``Government is not doing concession or privatisation but partnerships and collaboration.

``The government means well for the sector and therefore needs to build, rebuild and continue to build the sector in order to achieve the goal of transforming it as the main catalyst for the socio-economic growth of the nation.

``'Government has carried out a serious systems audit for the aviation sector and has realised its importance to the overall economy.

``That is why we must give it all the necessary push to play its pivotal role for the nation's economy,’’ she said.

The statement quoted the minister as denying claims that the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) funds were withdrawn without due approvals.

``She said the money was still in the custody of CBN. Nobody can gain access to it without presidential and legislative approvals.

``It is absolutely impossible for anybody to access that fund without all necessary approvals.

``The money is in the CBN, and as I speak with you, the money has not been spent, even though we are subsequently going to spend what has been approved.

``Above all, the CBN must certify that you have followed all the processes before they can allow any withdrawals.

``In summary, all envisaged processes have been followed and the necessary approvals secured. Nobody can therefore access that fund fraudulently or otherwise,’’ it added.
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According to the statement, the National President of the NAAPE, Capt. Isaac Balama, pledged their support to the growth of the industry.

He added that the association was ready to encourage its members to work with the minister to enable her to achieve her vision for the industry.

``We are interested in making this industry work and support the government. We dissociate ourselves from the people who are not interested in the growth of this sector.

He also enjoined those committed to moving the sector forward to join hands to move it forward.

Present at the meeting was Dr Harold Demuren, the Director General of NCAA. (NAN)
OYE/IEA/HKO

Take-Off Weather Briefing Compulsory For Pilots, Says Aviation Ministry

Ministry of Aviation has warned that it will sanction any pilot who does not obtain weather briefing, prior to the take-off of a flight.

In a circular forwarded to airlines at the weekend, the ministry noted that “it is mandatory for pilots to physically get weather briefing before operating any flight.”

The circular, signed by special assistant on media to the minister of aviation, Mr. Joe Obi, further stated that any violation of the mandatory regulation would be met with sanction, because it had been observed, over time, that only flight dispatchers go to the aeronautical information service (AIS) to obtain meteorological folders without the pilots themselves actually receiving the weather briefing.

“This unhealthy development accounts for why aircraft take off and get to their destinations but are unable to land due to bad weather and failure to get weather briefing prior to initiating their flight from the point of take-off,” a part of the statement read.

“Henceforth, all airline operators and pilots are required to obtain and confirm their destination weather reports from the AIS before start-up and take-off according to international standards and best practices in order to prevent incidents of avoidable air returns due to unfavourable weather condition.”

It added that the weather information, provided by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and readily available at the AIS, is meant to guide pilots on destination weather and to assist them in making informed decisions on whether or not to take off from one airport to another.

“There is absolutely no reason for a pilot to make an air return on the basis of poor weather condition, since initial weather report from the AIS would have been adequate to indicate the futility of an initial take-off under such harsh weather conditions,” it further stated.

 

The Will (culled from)

Aviation road show abroad’ll reinvent Nigeria

By Olusegun Koiki

 

Former Commissioner for Information, Plateau State, Hon. Yakubu Datti has risen in support of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah over her recent business road show to China, Canada and United States of America. The two weeks road show had attracted lots of criticisms from stakeholders and professionals in the sector who described the business show abroad as a jamboree and a share waste of public funds, but Datti in an interview with National Mirror said that rather than criticise the minister for her efforts in uplifting infrastructure in the sector, Oduah should be commended by players in the sector. Datti insisted that the business show abroad to attract foreign investments into the sector would reinvent Nigeria as the hub of Africa’s aviation, adding that it would also situate the country as the commercial entry point of international financing and foreign investments. He explained that what Nigeria needed to continue to play its leading role in Africa and beyond was the involvement of foreign investors, which he said the minister was trying to achieve through her road show. He argued that Oduah met dilapidated infrastructure in all the 22 airports in the country on her appointment as aviation minister barely a year ago, but with determination, she has been able to uplift half of the abandoned structures she inherited. He said, “Circumstances she inherited, on her assumption to office, could not have been less favourable. It is common knowledge that most of the Nigerian airports and terminals were built in the ’70s and for the past 30 years, no meaningful step was taken to shore up the infrastructure to be at par with international basics.

“Our national carrier, the once boisterous Nigerian airways was systematically reduced to cadavers, and the remains cremated. The airports were glorified motor parks, check-in services were slow and inefficient, and the arrival and departure lounges were an eyesore.

Leaking roof, suffocating counters and unkempt and broken conveniences added to passengers’ nightmare.

“The facilities were decayed and in a state of utter dysfunction; a disgrace and embarrassment to our national pride and standing in the comity of nations.

Passengers avoided our local airlines like a plague. Foreign airlines tip-toed our climes to reap from our profitable routes; they flew in their food, water and even insecticides, as if to purify our air.

They charged arbitrary fares and made it practically impossible for indigenous carriers to compete on lucrative routes. They patronised our routes with dilapidated, spentup aircraft. Even their crews were like a scene from the James Bond movies of the sixties.”

He noted further that through the road show, China’s stateowned construction giant, China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC) has given its commitment to invest in the development of Nigeria’s aviation sector.

Datti observed that African countries like Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa have all benefited from aviation investments from well established aviation financiers, engineering companies like Bombardier, Boeing and Cessna, emphasising that much more could be achieved with a greater rejuvenation from foreign investments in the sector.

Ethiopia Air's Dreamliner makes a stop at MMAI

The Ethiopian Dreamliner 787-800 series aircraft has made its first landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The aircraft, tagged “Africa’s First Dreamliner’’, had registration number ET-AOQ, with capacity for 270 passengers.

It touched down at 14 .20 p.m. Saturday under the Chief Pilot, Capt. Zelalem Hailu.

Mr Solomon Bagshaw, the Airline’s Acting General Manager in Nigeria, joined by his other staff members, welcomed it with shouts of joy, saying: “our dreams have come into reality.’’

Bagshaw told journalists that the new aircraft had all the state-of-the-art facilities that would give comfort to passengers during flight.

He said the aircraft came to Nigeria because it was among the biggest and largest markets where the airline got its passengers and patronage in the past 52 years.

“With the long history of our operations with Nigeria, we feel that Nigeria should be the first country to enjoy this new technology,’’ he said.

Bagshaw said the new aircraft would provide customers with the most reliable and customer friendly service.

He said the aircraft was constructed with lightweight carbon, as opposed to heavy aluminum found on other planes, consuming 20 per cent less fuel.

He added that Japan Airline was the first to take delivery of the 787-800 series while Ethiopian Airline was the second in the world and the first in Africa to do same.

He said the airline would take delivery of the remaining four Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft before the end of this year.

The general manager expressed appreciation to NCAA, FAAN, NAMA and the flying public for their support over the years.

On his part, Hailu described the aircraft as one of the most excellent aeroplanes now on the African continent.

The pilot said he had acquired 25 years of flying experience and that he was happy to be the first pilot to fly the Dreamliner in Africa and into Lagos from Addis Ababa Airport.

“I trained in London’s Gatwick Airport and that is where most of our pilots are currently undergoing their training to update their knowledge about aircraft operations’’, he said.

“It is very nice landing here in Nigeria and the flight from Addis Ababa to Lagos was very smooth.’’

The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines bought 10 of such aircraft from Boeing.

Each had an official price of 207million dollars with 198 million dollars paid on each for bulk orders.

The aircraft is expected to fly throughout Africa and Europe – especially Accra, Lagos, Rome and London. NAN

 

Nigeria: In search of the flight to Eldorado

By Eromo Egbejule

In line with the Federal Government’s plan to render better services to Nigerians, the Ministry of Aviation, under Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah recently embarked on a drive to get investors to pool in resources and transform the often-lampooned Nigerian aviation industry.
Over the last couple of weeks, the minister has put together the Aviation Ministry Investment roadshow to help enlighten potential investors, from the US to Canada and China.
The move, was to woo foreign investment, and was aimed at addressing the infrastructure gap in Nigeria’s aviation sector and that of the host countries.
Only last week, the Boeing Corporation, the world’s number one manufacturer of aircrafts agreed to collaborate and partner with the ministry in order to reposition the sector as the reference point on all aviation matters in Africa.
Its equally heart-warming news, that the US Citibank, the Federal Airport Administration (FAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have endorsed the Ministry of Aviation’s proposed Aerotroplolis project, even as they have all vowed to be fully involved in the various phases of its implementation.
The Aerotropolis is a project that involves placing airports in the centre with cities growing around them, connecting workers, goods and services.
Like the Biblical story of the wisemen from the East bearing gifts for a child, Chinese investors may just be the required personnel needed to rev up the engine of progress desperately needed in that ailing sector.
The Chinese will execute any projects they are involved in, using the contractor-financed model and not the Public Private Partnership business model or concessioning, in order to save time among other benefits.
The China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC) that built and donated the African Union (AU) building in Ethiopia, has for instance pledged to be a major investor in the construction of Areotropolis within major airports in Nigeria.
Also, the popular Huawei Technologies, together with it’s IT solutions partner, STA, presented a joint proposal to the minister’s delegation at the former’s headquarters in Shenzhen on IT infrastructure for new airport terminals.
The resilient Oduah also met with certain design firms, to fashion out strategies to get them involved in the redesign of certain systems at Nigerian airports.
It is only natural to seek aid when a burden is too heavy to carry alone and it is on the basis of this and her laudable ambitions, that Oduah deserves credit. No other minister has probably had this kind of drive in a long time and it is expected that her colleagues in the federal cabinet will emulate her roadshow initiative and spark off the needed revolution in the country.

In time, as Nigeria acknowledges that whatever is worth doing, is worth doing extremely well, the fact remains that national development will be sped up with each passing day; it goes without saying that Nigeria will become an economic nerve-centre of Africa.

Aviation Industry: Giant strides amidst a season of media denigration

By Skywatch correspondent.

Any avid news follower of Nigerian news especially news from the aviation sub-sector would have noticed the calculated campaign of calumny that has been drawn up by paid mischief makers to derail the steady but surely revolution that is daily gaining grounds in the aviation industry. However, the pay masters of these faceless individuals and groups are no longer the beneficiaries from the corrupt cartels that have cornered all juicy deals in the aviation sector for several years. Independent investigations have shown that the sponsors of the tirades against the Ministry and the person of the Minister are those whose lobbying prowess has failed in the face of the singular determination to do good by God, country and above all give the much needed honest lease of life –to a sector that remains highly under utilised and remains one of the most important link in the transportation equilibrium of not only Nigeria but sub-saharan Africa and the entire globe.

Never in the history of Nigeria’s aviation has the Ministry come under such barrage of media misrepresentations like the one currently being thrown at the Ministry and the person of the Minister Princess Stella Adaze Oduah.

Every step of the Airport terminal reconstruction has been met with stiff resistant, even from prominent stakeholders, even at a time when the airports didn’t have functional amenities and were not worthy of being the terminals of one of Africa’s most important air routes. It is befuddling to hear aviation professionals say safety first before reconstruction, forgetting that though aviation safety is the singular most important factor in instilling the confidence in air travel, it is equally only a comfortably well equipped airport that can compliment air safety. An airport with safe runways, well demarcated perimeter fence and functional tower facilities, fire service hubs and clinics that can aide in ensuring that such edifice is fit for air travelling amidst optimum safety and comfort.

 As if the paid ghost writers haven’t had enough their pay masters have also told them to attack the process of the bidding of the airport projects, not even the Ministry of aviation’s explanation of the projects being emergency projects in order the fast track the development of the sector has dissuade them from peddling their outright lies and half truths.

The investment drive abroad in search of competent aviation professionals to become big players in Nigeria’s aviation sector was greeted with so much disdain that if not for her patriotic zeal, the attention currently being enjoyed by potential investors wouldn’t have even been thought of. Another much maligned aspect of the Minister’s transformation drive has been the misconception and misrepresentation of the facts about the BASA fund, an interventionist fund meant for the ministry which the minister has said part of it will be channelled towards bequeathing world class airport terminals and other safety facilities at our airports nationwide. 

In fact not even fatal and tragic crashes that characterised the tenure of Prof. Babalola Borishade did the Ministry suffer such negative criticisms and wholesome cynicism. To refresh our minds a bit after Prof. Borishade was replaced on November 2 2006 four days after the crash of ADC Airlines Boeing 737 passenger aircraft, two years later he was later to be arraigned alongside his successor Femi Fani Kayode for their roles in the mismanagement of the 19.5 Billion Naira aviation intervention fund. One of the highlights of this sordid case was when an Austrian executive mentioned during a hearing that they had paid Borishade the sum of 1 Billion Naira in order to acquire the contract for the remodelling of the airports. Yet the aforementioned were not daily staples in our news items 6 years ago.

It is sad that some so-called stakeholders will rather wish for Nigeria’s aviation sector to remain underdeveloped at the expense self interest, it is important that at this critical juncture we are come together to ensure that we have an aviation sector that is amongst one of the best in Africa, the steps are already being taken, its time to rally round the Minister and ensure that the strides currently being made are sustained for the generality of Nigerians and those unborn.

Imperatives Of Aviation Infrastructure Reconstruction, A Historical Perspective

By Odunayo G. Bifarin.

In Nigeria it easy for us to dismiss the importance of airport terminals in the scheme of transportation, this is due in part to the stagnant development that characterized air travel over the years.

From the humble beginnings of the first recorded aviation activity in Kano in 1925 when a RAF pilot made a breath- taking but safe landing on the horse race course in Kano, the historic moment went down in history as the first recorded aviation activity in Nigeria.

The dilapidated structures that characterize airport terminals in Nigeria today have diminished over the years from the world class structures they were as at the time of construction almost 40 years ago. It is only proper that we trace the history of aviation in Nigeria, which shows that the earliest known commercial aviation activity in Nigeria is credited to one gentle man, "Bud" Carpenter, who owned the earliest type of the Light aircraft, de Havilland Moth.

Records show that he frequently undertook high-risk flights between Kano and Lagos, using the rail tracks as his guide and piling up extra distance in the process. Unfortunately all this humble gains have been eroded away by years of mismanagement.

In the early 1930s, an enterprising pilot carried a few fare-paying passengers in a seaplane between Lagos and Warri. With the continuation of the annual RPLF flights, aviation activities in Nigeria became quite considerable, creating the need for aerodromes.

Consequently, a representative of the Air Ministry in London visited Nigeria to inspect what could then be appropriately described as "landing grounds". Sites were selected at Maiduguri, Oshogbo, Lagos, Minna, Kano and Kaduna. Wing Commander E. H. Coleman, one of the earliest observers of the evolution of civil aviation in Nigeria described the aerodromes thus:

It must be remembered, however that what was called an aerodrome in those days would by no means meet requirements for even some of the small airplanes of modern times. In the early days it was considered necessary to construct several runways oriented in varying directions to avoid cross wind landings and take-offs, as the older type of tail-wheel aircraft was more prone to swing than the modern nose wheel types.

However, no matter how simplistic these were, they still served the purpose, however in times of increasing air safety and technological advancement Nigerian aviation sector failed to keep up with the gains that innovation had bequeathed to other visionary countries especially during the military years of the 1980s and early 90s. Fast forward to 2012 -it is not a secret knowledge that most of the Nigerian Airports and Terminals were built in the 70s, as such by 2011 they were decayed and in a state of utter dysfunction.

All Airport Users attest to the fact that our Infrastructure was a disgrace and embarrassment to our National pride. Imagine an airport without adequate toilet facilities; this was what Nigerians and foreigners alike had suffered for several years. As such it is remarkable and important the current call for the remodelling and reconstruction of the Industry must be supported in all ramifications.

The Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah must be commended for the giant strides taking to ensure that the projects come on stream immediately, despite the barrage of criticisms that has trailed the flag off the media.

The airports in major cities like Abuja, Lagos, and Port-Hacourt etc are already in the process of enjoying this rejuvenation.

Most importantly this new investment will go a long way in ensuring that Nigeria's air safety record rises to be at par with global best practices. Certainly Nigerian air travellers deserve the very best.

Basa Fund And The Continued Obfuscation Of Facts

By Martha Aisosa Aikherome

It has become the trade mark of paid traducers, outright mischief makers to continue to obfuscate the facts of the now famous Bilateral Air Service Agreement BASA fund.

There’s a deliberate campaign of calumny and dissemination of outright falsehood against the activities of the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah with regard to the utilization of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) fund by the Federal Ministry of Aviation. Some versions of the mischievous publications quote non-existent figures of the BASA fund in the region of hundreds of millions in US Dollars allegedly missing or utilized without approval and due process certification from the relevant authorities.

According to sources at the Ministry to be sure, the entire sum in the BASA fund stands at $74million dollars. Out of this, former Aviation Minister, Mrs Fedelia Akuabuta Njeze sought and obtained approval from the Presidency and the National Assembly for the utilization of $60million (about N7.5 billion) from the fund for the rehabilitation of infrastructure at the nation’s airports in line with the Civil Aviation Act 2006. It must however be noted that this sum could not be accessed before the end of her stewardship.

Worried by the scale of infrastructure deficit at the nation’s airports, the current Aviation Minister initiated fresh processes to access the already approved $60miilion from the BASA fund to form part of the resources required to execute the Remodeling of 11 airports across the country in the first phase.

Like her predecessor, all relevant approval from the Presidency and the National Assembly were obtained to access and utilize the fund to address the huge infrastructure challenge in the sector. So nothing could be farther from the truth; and it indeed smacks of sheer mischief to insinuate that the fund had been accessed and utilized without following due process. Reconstruction work at the 11 airports is over 90 per cent completed and will be due for commissioning soon.

It bears mentioning at this point that stashing BASA fund in the banks when critical infrastructure challenges require immediate and urgent redress serves no one any useful purpose, not the nation’s aviation sector; to be sure! It will even amount to official irresponsibility and abdication of leadership when considered against the backdrop that BASA fund, according to the 2006 Civil Aviation Act is intended to be deployed for the development of infrastructure and civil aviation in the country.

We wish to advise all those who have made it a career to write frivolous petitions against the present minister of aviation in the hope of distracting her from vigorously pursuing the wholesale transformation of the sector to give up this trade as the minister remains focused in re-writing the history of the aviation sector in Nigeria.

It is equally trite to caution journalists to take extra care in entertaining all manner of petitions from this clan of professional petition writers thereby according them underserved and undue publicity; and in the process unwittingly tarnish their hard-won professional integrity.

It is in line with the desire to bring about the needed development to this all important sector that the Aviation Industry the world over is a multi-billion dollar industry; as such it is imperative that the Nigerian aviation industry attracts the right global players. The Federal Ministry of Aviation and some of her agencies have embarked on the first phase of a long planned international investment road show this past weekend. The trip takes the team to China, the United States and Canada.

This investment road show is a key element of the Ministry’s Roadmap for the transformation of the country’s Air Transport Industry. The Roadmap was put in place and presented for approval by Mr President in November 2012, to set a clear agenda and offer strategic markers and guidelines for the steps to be taken.

Nigerian aviation sector and the multitude of passengers and other stakeholders deserve the best from the critical sector of air travel