crash in Lagos on Thursday died Saturday, despite concerted efforts to
save his life.
The death of the man, who was identified as Samson Hassan, has
increased the total death toll from the plane crash to 15, with five
survivors still battling for their lives.
The plane with 20 passengers on board was conveying the remains of
former Ondo State governor Olusegun Agagu to his state for burial when
it crashed few minutes after take-off in Lagos.
Hassan had along with another survivor, Taiwo Akintunde, been kept
under close watch at the highly sterilised Intensive Care Unit of the
Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
THISDAY checks had on Friday revealed that both men were hooked up to
sophisticated electronic monitors to help check their blood pressures
and general health conditions.
The doctors and nurses at their beck and call at the unit battled to
save his life, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
It was yet uncertain as at press time if the deceased's relatives had
been alerted by the hospital authorities, although, THISDAY
correspondent who visited the Lekan Ogunsola Memorial Home of LASUTH
witnessed medical personnel discussing the incident in hushed tones.
One of the personnel who spoke on conditions of anonymity said the
medical doctors on duty really tried their best to prevent a relapse
but the degree of injury sustained by the deceased reduced his chances
of recovery. His death was later confirmed by a release said to have
emanated from one Mrs Bolanle Okusanya- Feyita, who spoke on behalf of
the Magbamawo Industrial Company (MIC) Royal Ltd, where Hassan was a
member of staff.
The company, one of the popular funeral undertaking outfits in the
country, lost its Chief Executive Mr Olatunji Okusanya, his son, Mr
Olatunji Okusanya Jnr and four members of staff- Mr Akeem Akintunde,
Mr Chijioke Duru, Mr Kingsley Amaechi and now Hassan, in the crash.
The only female survivor at LASUTH, Toyin Samson, who was at the
Recuperating Ward of the Surgical Emergency ward was still stable,
same as the duo of Feyi Agagu and Femi Akinsanya, who were at the BT
unit.
Also Saturday, the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test process finally
kicked off after the families of the deceased persons stormed the
morgue for the test.
The process which kicked off after the families were delayed for
hours, was witnessed by officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA) and the Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties,
Dr. Wale Ahmed.
Although the Deputy General Manager (Aeromedicals), Dr. Wilfred
Haggai, declined to comment on the state of the survivors and the DNA
process, it was gathered that the results would be out within the next
one month.
In the meantime, the Director General of NCAA, Fola Akinkuotu, has
confirmed that the operations of Associated Airlines have been
grounded.
Also, a Kabo plane, a Boeing B747-3 aircraft with registration number
5N-JRM and over 512 passengers on board en route Saudi Arabia, was
reported to have skidded off the runway in Sokoto when its tyres burst
as it was landing. The passengers, according to the report, were
evacuated and lodged in a hotel where they waited for another
aircraft.
But the management of Kabo Airlines denied that its Saudi Arabia-bound
aircraft was involved in a landing mishap. "No one was hurt, we were
not involved in air mishap and it was just a speculation aimed to
tarnish our image and God willing they will not succeed at all," said
the airline's spokesman, Malam Aminu Hamza. "Our aircraft did not have
any air mishap but what actually happened was that it had a rear tyre
problem at the point of landing at Sokoto where it intended to pick
passengers bound to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia."
A statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Communications of
the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati, had
confirmed that a Boeing 747-3 aircraft, operated by Kabo Airlines
arrived safely with all passengers and crew on board, following a
landing incident at the Sokoto Airport at 2100 GMT. "The aircraft
which departed from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano was
en route Saudi Arabia when it had a stop-over at the Sokoto airport
for passenger pickup," the statement said.
The NCAA Director General, who just returned from an overseas trip on
Friday, a day after the accident happened, visited the survivors of
the crash yesterday at LASUTH where he announced the suspension of the
Associated Airlines operations.
"Operations of Associated Airlines have been suspended by the Nigerian
Civil Aviation Authority," Akinkuotu, who is a pilot and an engineer,
said. "And let me say it again for the purpose of clarity, I said all
the operations of Associated Airlines have been suspended by NCAA. I
say all operations; I did not say the certification, all operations of
the airlines have been suspended."
On the airworthiness of the aircraft and the genuineness of its
insurance, the director general said that according to the
documentations available to the NCAA, the aircraft was deemed worthy
and had an insurance document that made it airworthy to fly, adding
that the airline has engineers that were certified by the regulatory
body.
He also said NCAA was satisfied with the aircraft and that was why the
authority gave it an airworthiness certification. "The continued
airworthiness certification of an airplane is largely the
responsibility of the operator," he added. "There are certified
engineers there who are licensed and certified by NCAA who did sign
the aircraft was air worthy; the pilot has the responsibility (to
confirm) that the aircraft was air worthy and he accepted to fly it;
so to that extent the NCAA cannot say anything to the contrary as we
speak."
While the director general was leaving the hospital, he was met by the
son of the pilot of the ill-fated flight, Babatunde Yakubu. A tearful
Yakubu said that his late father would never have flown an aircraft
that was faulty.
The bereaved young man disclosed that his father was a careful pilot
who would rather disagree with the airline's management than fly such
a bad aircraft.
Consoling him, Akinkuotu recalled how close he used to be with the
deceased, saying that he had hired him when he was head of flight
operations in one of the airlines that had gone under.
The director general also expressed satisfaction that many of the
survivors of the crashed aircraft were responding to treatment and
thanked the doctors and nurses attending to them.
In a related development, an Arik Air flight WS 584 from Abuja to
Benin made air return as precautionary safety measure, and later was
said to have operated the flight after a minor error was rectified.
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