FESTUS KEYAMO CALLS ON HEADS OF AVIATION AGENCIES OVER RECURRING SAFETY ISSUES

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The nation’s minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, has gathered the leaders of aviation organisations for a meeting to address ongoing safety issues in the industry.

According to a statement from the ministry, Keyamo will meet with the leaders of the aviation authority on Monday in Abuja.

Among the authorities are the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airport Authority Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

The minister will meet with them “to discuss the recent accidents in the sector and will thereafter brief the press on the outcome of the deliberation to avert such occurrences”.

When some passengers on Flight NUA 0504 from the Lagos airport were transferred to the Asaba airport on Sunday, there was drama.

The passengers were confused when the cabin crew informed them that they had landed at the airport in Abuja after landing in Asaba. The flight was rerouted due to “poor weather,” as the airline later claimed.

“What I want is that Malaysia Airlines gives me the truth. What happened to our loved ones?

“What I want now is for them to resume the search and the investigation.”

Malaysia’s transport ministry and Malaysia Airlines both declined to comment on the hearings.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that Beijing “attaches great importance to the follow-up work” into MH370’s disappearance and “hopes that all parties will continue to maintain close communication”.

‘Unbearable’

It is unclear what jurisdiction the Chinese court has to enforce the claims for compensation against the defendants.

Each family filed for civil compensation of between 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) and 80 million yuan ($11.2 million), as well as moral damages of 30 million yuan ($4.2 million) to 40 million yuan ($5.6 million), CCTV reported.

The families of more than 110 other passengers have already reached a settlement with the defendants and received between 2.5 million and 3 million yuan, the broadcaster said.

Gathering outside the court on Monday despite freezing temperatures, relatives were keen to talk to journalists.

Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, said the opening of the hearing was “very comforting, and it is a turning point”.

“The survival of the relatives during these 10 years, the deterioration of their living conditions… This really makes us very sad. So I hope that the legal relief can be realised as soon as possible. It is not difficult,” he said.

“Ten years have really been unbearable for us,” added Jiang.

The hearing was not listed on the court’s public website, but Jiang wrote on social media this month the court hearings would continue until mid-December.

Unsolved mystery

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt for MH370 in 2018, but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories — ranging from the credible to outlandish — including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.

AFP