Medview Air Aircraft Grounded Pending Recertification By NCAA

Aviation Nigeria

The Medview Air aircraft, a Boeing 737-400 with Reg.No 5N BPAs which made an air return to the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos on Sunday following a faulty engine has been grounded and would undergo recertification by officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) before it will return to service.

According to Sam Adurogboye, Media Assistant to Director General of the NCAA, “The airline engineers will have to work on the aircraft after which the NCAA safety inspectors would recertify it by flying it empty. If certified okay, then the aircraft will be cleared to return to service.”

The Medview Air aircraft with 74 passengers on board was on a scheduled flight from Lagos to Abuja-Yola earlier on Sunday morning but made an air return to Lagos about 15 minutes after take-off following what eyewitnesses said was ‘a big bang’ in one of the aircraft engines.

Joe Obi, Special Media Assistant to the Aviation Minister, said the plane had taken off at 12 noon, but the aircraft pilot noticed a surge in one of the engines, and immediately applied the necessary safety precautionary measure by returning the aircraft to base.

Medview Flight makes Air Return minutes after take off in Lagos

Aviation Nigeria

A Medview aircraft, Boeing 737-400 with registration number 5N BPA from Lagos-Abuja-Yola made an air return to Lagos about 15 minutes after take-off after the pilot noticed a problem with an engine.

The Abuja-bound aircraft made a return to Lagos after one of its engines developed a mechanical fault mid-air.

The plane belonging to Med View Airline made the emergency return to the Lagos Airport.
According to a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the Aviation Minister, Joe Obi, the plane had taken off at 12 noon on Sunday.

"The pilot of the aircraft who noticed a surge in one of the engines immediately applied the necessary safety precautionary measure by returning the aircraft to base.”

“The pilot made a safe and smooth landing while all passengers were successfully disembarked and subsequently transferred to another aircraft in the fleet, a 737-800. All passengers in the 737-800 were safely dropped at the two destinations-Abuja and Yola” it reads.

The airline recently commenced operations in November 2012. The plane, a Boeing 737-400 series marked 5N-BPA had 74 passengers on board, and the pilot explained he had to make a mid-air return when he heard a loud bang  at the engine side of the aircraft.

The incident has been described as a loss of thrust on engine.