{"id":4643,"date":"2013-06-02T22:27:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-02T22:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/pain-anger-one-year-after-dana-plane-crash\/"},"modified":"2013-06-02T22:27:01","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T22:27:01","slug":"pain-anger-one-year-after-dana-plane-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/pain-anger-one-year-after-dana-plane-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain, anger one year after Dana plane crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\u2022 Victims\u2019 families may seek more claims<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Why compensation is delayed, by airline<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Govt unveils  monument  Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n

EXACTLY one year Monday, a Dana Flight 0992 heading for Lagos from Abuja crashed into residential buildings in a Lagos suburb, Iju-Ishaga, killing all 153 passengers onboard. About eight others were also killed on ground.<\/p>\n

Today also brings back sad memories for families who lost their loved ones.<\/p>\n

One year after what many termed an \u201cavoidable accident\u201d, there are many issues that are yet to be addressed, according to stakeholders. They fear that the inability to resolve the issues up till this moment could mean that the victims died in vain.<\/p>\n

The issues range from the difficulty of adequately compensating victims\u2019 families in line with the Montreal Convention to which Nigeria is a signatory.<\/p>\n

Experts and aggrieved families carpeted Dana for shirking in its responsibility and not doing enough to lighten the pain the families are currently going through.<\/p>\n

The accident equally brings to the fore the issue of aviation safety and the role of various aviation agencies in terms of search and rescue and the oversight function of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as constituted.<\/p>\n

The alleged interference in the functions of NCAA by the Ministry of Aviation, coupled with manpower deficiency and alleged politicisation of the sector, among other issues, could prepare the ground for another disaster except the problems are urgently tackled.<\/p>\n

The NCAA was indicted for not removing all encumbrances to ensuring that compensation issues are quickly removed.<\/p>\n

An aviation analyst who preferred anonymity said the drive by the NCAA on the issue had waned seriously, stressing that in a situation as this, the regulatory body ought to have wielded the big stick like in the cases of Sosoliso and ADC Airlines in 2006 which remain grounded till today after their failure to offer compensation to victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n

There are indications that some families of the victims could ask for more than the statutory $ 100,000 for the loss of their bread winners and relations if the accident was caused by negligence by the airline or any of the aviation agencies.<\/p>\n

Some of the families who spoke with The Guardian under the condition of anonymity said they had studied the \u201cwhole content of Montreal Convention as it relates to accidents and compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

They stated that they were waiting for the final accident report on Dana before the next line of action to take to seek justice.<\/p>\n

Last week, Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi, promised in Abuja that the final report of the accident would be made public before the end of this year.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Convention, formally the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, is a treaty adopted by a diplomatic meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) member-states in 1999.<\/p>\n

It amended important provisions of the Warsaw Convention\u2019s regime concerning compensation for the victims of air disasters.<\/p>\n

It protects passengers by introducing a two-tier liability system and by facilitating the swift recovery of proven damages without the need for lengthy litigation.<\/p>\n

Article 17 of the convention stipulates that the airline or its servants or agents are liable to pay each passenger more than $ 100,000 Special Drawing Rights if it is proven that \u201csuch damage was due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the carrier or its servants or agents; or such damage was solely due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of a third party.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to former commandant, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), families of victims of aircraft accidents are entitled to unlimited amount of compensation within Montreal Conventions, especially if any of the operators responsible for providing established services are found to be negligent.<\/p>\n

His words: \u201cAside from the airline, air traffic control management could also be responsible in the area of how it co-ordinated emergency alerting and search and rescue. In the case of Dana, negligence cannot be apportioned to the airline alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, the pathologist said about 50 of the dead victims died of suffocation. They died of suffocation because help did not come in time. The alert was not timely.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Ojikutu, a trained air traffic controller, Nigerians may never know the cause of Dana crash unless a judicial inquiry is instituted, and that it would be difficult to sanction offending officials or bring their negligence to public view so that government or any other party could pay damages as part of the unlimited compensation.<\/p>\n

Ojikutu recalled that air traffic controllers\u2019 negligence caused the crash of ADC Airline in 1996 after conflicting directive from the tower almost caused collision in the air between the two air planes.<\/p>\n

The sudden diversion by the ADC captain to avoid collision with a Triax airplane made the pilot to lose control and crashed into the Ejinrin River in Ikorodu, Lagos, killing all onboard.<\/p>\n

The Spokesman of Dana, Tony Usidamen, disclosed that only 11 families had received full compensation of $ 100,000 (N15 million) each while 95 others received an initial $ 30,000 (N4.5 million) each.<\/p>\n

He said they all received the compensation as at May 25, 2013. A total of 153 passengers, including crew members, and six residents of the area died in the crash. Property worth millions of naira was destroyed in the accident.<\/p>\n

He said compensation would be paid to all victims provided they had valid documents to back up their claims.<\/p>\n

Besides, the Federal Government will today honour the victims of the Dana crash and also unveil a cenotaph, built for them, to mark the one year remembrance of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

In a statement yesterday by the Head of Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati, he said that the aviation industry had instituted a safety week which would be observed from June 3, 2013 and this would be done every year in the honour of those who lost their lives in one of the most tragic accidents in the history of air transport in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

He noted that the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, would lead the church service for the crash victims, while the Minister of Aviation would be the chief host and the ceremony would climax with the unveiling of the cenotaph.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Guardian Newspaper<\/p>\n

DisNaija.Com<\/b> publishes regular posts on Nigeria News,<\/a> Nigerian Newspapers,<\/a> Online Nigeria Gist.<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow us on Twitter<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Nigerian Newspapers<\/a>
\n
\nFollow @Dis_Naija<\/a>
\n