The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, narrowly escaped death on Friday night when a chartered plane conveying him crash-landed at the Ibadan Airport in Oyo State.
Daily Trust had reported that the chartered aircraft, Flint Short Aero, an HS 125 with the registration number 5N-AMM, took off from Abuja.
The flight was said to have had an initial contact with the control tower at 18:56 seeking an extension, which was granted by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), but crash landed short of the threshold and skidded into a bushy ditch close to the runway.
Award-winning journalist, David Hundeyin alleged that the aircraft was operating illegally in the country with the blessing of aviation regulator, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
He said, “The Hawker 800XP aircraft with the tail identifier 5N-AMM and serial number 258286 that crash landed in Ibadan with the Minister of Power onboard is operating illegally in Nigeria with the full knowledge and participation of the NCAA.
“This aircraft has no permission to operate commercial charter flights as it is registered under a Permit for Non-Commercial Flights (PNCF). This is the permit given to private non-commercial aircraft, and it is cheaper and easier to obtain than a commercial Air Operator Certificate (AOC), because the NCAA rules for private aircraft operation are less stringent than those for commercial aircraft.
“Flints Aero Service, the company which operates it, is also operating multiple aircraft under PNCF permission and using them to carry out commercial charter flights.
“Some of these aircraft include the Hawker 800XP with the tail identifier 5N-ALG and another Hawker 800XP with the tail identifier 5N-AMK.
“PNCF holders don’t have to pay the 5% regulatory fees that AOC holders are required to, and the regulatory requirements for pilot training, ground staff training and aircraft maintenance are also less strident because PNCF aircraft are not under any circumstances supposed to carry paying passengers.”
Hundeyin added, “Senior NCAA personnel take a cut of the revenues from these illegal commercial flight operations to keep this whole scam going.
“Now a sitting cabinet minister who may or may not know about all this has almost died in an accident on an illegal, unlicensed commercial flight run by his fellow ‘elite’ who was willing to risk his life to save some money, and was enabled by top ranking NCAA staff who will inevitably try to cover this up by hanging the blame entirely on Flints Aero Service”.
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