Nigerian senate set to probe recent air accidents

The Nigerian senate will launch a probe into the recent air crashes and other crises rocking the aviation industry of the West African country when the upper legislative body resumes plenary sessions on Tuesday after a short break. Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah, as well as other heads of agencies under the ministry, will be quizzed by the lawmakers who are concerned with the recent air accidents in which close to 200 lives were lost in 16 months. Irked by the spate of air crashes, especially the most recent one involving a 23-year-old propeller plane operated by Nigeria's local Associated Airline, the senate had summoned Oduah, who is currently enmeshed in a scandal of purchasing two bullet-proof BMW cars with a whopping 1.6 million U.S. dollars, to explain the true state of the aviation sector. The decision to probe the aviation industry was further strengthened after the senators agreed that the recent air crashes were suggestive of a deep seated systemic problem that must be resolved to avert future fatal accidents. Senate spokesperson Eyinnaya Abaribe told reporters in Abuja that the Upper House of the legislature did not summon the minister and other aviation chiefs under her supervision to indict their competence. Rather, the invitation would afford the aviation chiefs an opportunity to state their efforts at implementing past reports and recommendations of the senate aimed at ensuring safety and sanity in the industry, he explained. "The observation of lapses in the aviation industry expressed by the senators is not also an indictment of the senate committee on aviation," he added. Although not all the accidents were fatal, about seven air mishaps involving Nigerian Airlines have been recorded since June 2, 2012. In all the air crashes since last year, close to 200 lives had been lost. The most fatal of the air accidents recorded 163 deaths on June 3, 2012, in the southwestern state of Lagos, when a commercial plane operated by Dana Air developed mechanical faults mid-air, five minutes to touchdown at the Murtala Muhammed Airport. At least 14 people died on Oct. 3, exactly 16 months after last year's accident, when a small chartered plane operated by Associated Airline crash landed also at the Murtala Muhammed Airport axis, three minutes after its take-off.