Aviation
Just in: Court halts sale of Nigeria Air shares to Ethiopia Airlines
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the Federal Government to suspend the process of selling the shares of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines.
The temporary injunction was given in a suit FHC/L/CS/2159/2022 and filed by Airline Operators in Nigeria (AON), Azman Air Services Limited, Air Peace Limited, Max Air Limited, United Nigeria Airline Company Limited, and Topbrass Aviation Limited, the plaintiffs.
The suit has Nigeria Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, and Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), as defendants.
The judge, Lewis-Allagoa, as found in the enrolment order, said the government, represented by the aviation minister, and the AGF should not proceed with the “establishment agreement” until the substantive matter in the suit was heard and determined.
The court directed all the parties in the suit to maintain “status quo”.
The plaintiffs asked the court to award them N2 billion in damages and order a perpetual injunction restraining the government from transferring the shares and operations of Nigeria Air to Ethiopian Airlines.
In the originating summons of the suit, the plaintiffs formulated five questions to the court to determine, one of which read:
“Whether the entire process for the sale and transfer of shares of the 1st defendant to the 2nd defendant and its consortium by the 3rd and 4th defendants is in line with the provisions of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Est.) Act, 2005, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention, the National Policy on Public Private Partnership (N4P), sections 76-81 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, and does not affect the entire process including the selection, approval or grant to the 2nd defendant and its consortium by the 3rd and 4th defendants is not invalid and thereby entitling the entire process to fresh bidding exercise?”
The plaintiffs, therefore, prayed the court to declare that “the entire administrative actions and decisions of the 3rd and 4th defendants in the sale of the shares of the 1st defendant to the 2nd defendant and its consortium is invalid, void and of no effect”.
The plaintiffs also sought for: “A declaration that the 2nd defendant was incompetent to bid for shares in the 1st defendant and commence business accordingly
“An order setting aside the entire bidding/selection process(es) for the “Nigeria Air” project as well as the approval, grant or selection of the 2nd defendant by the 1st, 3rd and 4th defendants in the process.
“An order directing the immediate, fresh and transparent bidding process(es) involving the plaintiffs being the indigenous Airline Operators in Nigeria rightly entitled to participate in the process.
“An order directing the immediate revocation and cancellation of the air transport licence (ATL) issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to the 1st defendant.”
Aviation
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.
The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.
All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.
A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.
Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.
The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.
“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.
“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.
“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”
Aviation
Black box of crashed helicopter in P’Harcourt found, two passengers still missing
Black box of crashed helicopter in P’Harcourt found, two passengers still missing
A flight data recorder otherwise called back box of the helicopter that crashed in Rivers State two weeks ago has been recovered.
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) confirmed this in a statement.
The helicopter operated by East Wind Aviation and hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited crashed on October 24 while travelling from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) base in Port Harcourt.
The aircraft, carrying six passengers and two crew members, went down in the Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima, off the coast of Calabar, around 11:22am.
A week later, the NSIB reported that a fifth body was recovered from the site of the crash.
In a statement on Friday, Bimbo Oladeji, NSIB director, public affairs and consumer protection, confirmed that the flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR), the black box, were retrieved from the site.
Oladeji said the bureau, in collaboration with Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and other search and recovery partners, coordinated efforts with both local and international teams to locate and retrieve the bodies of the deceased and essential components necessary for a full investigation.
“The FDR and CVR, commonly referred to as the aircraft’s ‘black box,’ was retrieved early this morning,” Oladeji said.
Aviation
Air crash averted as Australian plane suffers engine failure
Air crash averted as Australian plane suffers engine failure
A major air crash was averted on Friday after an Australian passenger plane suffered an engine failure.
The plane departing from Sydney, Australia, had experienced engine failure, causing the aircraft to circle before making a safe emergency landing, according to a post by Qantas on X.
Another report from Sydney Airport said a grass fire also ignited along one side of the runway but it was unclear whether the two incidents were related.
The fire had since reportedly been contained, though some flight delays were experienced.
Qantas did not disclose the number of passengers on board the twin-engine Boeing 737-800, which was bound for Brisbane, when the engine failed with a loud bang.
It also said there were no injuries from the incident.
“We understand this would have been a distressing experience for customers, and we will be contacting all customers this afternoon to provide support,” stated Qantas Chief Pilot, Captain Richard Tobiano.
“We will also be conducting an investigation into the cause of the engine issue.”
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