Posted by Sade Williams
Azman Air has written a protest letter to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) saying the decision to ground its operations was too hasty.
It asked the regulatory body to lift the suspension.
In a protest letter seen by The Travelport, the airline’s accountable manager, Muhammad Hadi Abdulmunaf, said eventhough the NCAA had investigated two of the three incidents which happened this months and had cleared the aircraft for operations, the third incident has not been investigated, hence there is no basis for suspension.
It however asked the Authority to reverse the suspension ‘in line with the established precedent in respect of other Airlines which has similar incidents/experiences in the past. This is particularly necessary in the interest of justice, fairness, and fairplay.”
The letter with title: RE: SUSPENSION OF PARTS A3 AND D43 OF THE OPERATIONS SPECIFICATIONS ISSUED TO AZMAN AIR, reads: Shortly after recur of the letter, we received a zoom conference invitation which was held between 1pm to 2pm on Tuesday (16/03/2021) surprisingly, the reason or grounds for suspension on Azman operations was not contained in the letter under reference, nor discussed at the zoom conference. In fact all Azman officials request with reasons or ground was not attended to. Instead , attempt was made by the chief host (Engr. Ajiboye) to link the Azman Aircraft wheel burst in Lagos on (16/02/2021) with 5N-SYS which occurred on (16/02/2021) with recent Kaduna wheel burst of flight 5N-YSM which happened on 15/03/2021.
“Instructively, the NCAA and AIB have cleared Azman Air Aircraft to continue its operations. Also the incident that happened with regards to an object falling from Aircraft 5N-SYS has technically been investigated and cleared by the NCAA with a sanction to Azman Air and the staff from Azman Air in Abuja on (8/03/2021).
“But, the Kaduna incident has not been investigated. Therefore, there is no nervous/link between the previous incident in Abuja or Lagos with Kaduna incident. Accordingly, without prejudice, the NCAA use its power to write the suspension of Azman operations not based on fact. Therefore, the management humbly request that Azman Air suspension should be lifted firstly in line with the established precedent in respect of other Airlines which has similar incidents/experiences in the past. This is particularly necessary in the interest of justice, fairness, and fairplay.” , the letter reads.
