Thursday, June 13, 2013

Aero Commander 1121B, N972TF: Why was that scrap plane towed at that unholy hour?

By: Leadership Editors on June 17, 2013 - 1:45am 

Again, the nation’s aviation ministry is in the news for the wrong reasons. A disused plane with registration number N972TF formerly owned by the late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries, Ajah, Lagos, was on Thursday last week abandoned at a filling station located in Igando, a suburb of Lagos. Reports said that the plane was being towed from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) to Badagry before it had a burst tyre, which forced those towing it to abandon it. Not surprisingly, this incident caused panic among the residents who thought that the plane had crash- landed.

It is not out of place to ask: why was that scrap plane towed at that unholy hour?   


Is it the practice within the aviation industry for scrap planes to share the same road with cars?  Why was the disused plane not dismembered before it was taken to its new abode?  With the size of that aircraft, would it not have caused traffic logjam, given the nature of traffic on Lagos roads, irrespective of the time of night it was being towed?  Did those who were towing the disused aircraft obtain clearance from the appropriate authorities before embarking on the trip?

There is an urgent need for the Lagos State government to investigate this development and prosecute any person or group of persons who might have violated the law. Law enforcement agents should no longer continue to fold their hands and watch a few individuals and organizations flout laid-down rules and procedures with impunity. The nation is being ridiculed in the eyes of the civilised world. The explanation by the authorities of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) that the scrap plane was until last Wednesday within its facility is not tenable. Both NAMA and the person or persons the scrap plane was released to ought to have known the best practices the world over. Nigeria cannot be an exception. NAMA cannot claim ignorance of what the rule books stipulate on an issue like this. Not long ago, its officials had cause to ground planes conveying state governors on the excuse that the pilots of those aircraft failed to meet operational guidelines. Why did the same NAMA authorize the towing of a disused plane from its facility even when it was aware of the associated hazards?

Many of the nation’s airports are littered with disused planes.  Some have been there for over a decade. This not only constitutes an eyesore but an embarrassment to the nation and its first-time foreign visitors. The authorities involved should speedily work to rid our airports of this junk in the most acceptable way possible.


Source:  http://leadership.ng




By: Nkem Osuagwu on June 16, 2013 - 6:05am
 
The American Registered aircraft N5972TF which has become a bone of contention between its new owner, Captain M.J Ekehinde and Mr.  Oladapo Coker, owner of Dapsey Oil, the filling station where the aircraft stalled its journey on Thursday might reach its destination today. This is according to sources who said both parties have reached an agreement and that the plane might be towed to Badagry early today or on Monday if they are able to get a tow van.

The source said as at last night, the aircraft owner has yet to pay the compensation to Cocker but was still working on the sum which remained a secret.

Yesterday when our correspondent visited the Filling station in Igandu, the aircraft which was allegedly impounded by the owner who was aggrieved due to lost businesses remained a tourist attraction. However onlookers watched the plane from a distance following the presence of stern looking security officials.

There are more than 30 abandoned aircraft in airports across the country. Analysts said these aircraft still have economic value and each can be sold at between N800,000 to N1.5 million.

The aircraft which caused some speculations is a junk aircraft belonging to late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries.

The new owner took delivery of it from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on Wednesday and was towing it to Badagry when a burst tyre stalled its movement.

Story and Photo: http://leadership.ng


http://registry.faa.gov/aN972TF

 



The Lagos State Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Damascus Ozouani, on Thursday explained that a private jet with registration number N972TF at Dapsey Filling Station, Igando, did not crash land.

Ozouani told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the disused jet was being towed from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, to Badagry when one of its tyres burst.

NAN correspondent at the filling station observed that the jet which can accommodate about eight passengers, has the inscription "Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusades" on its tail board.

The filling station had become a Mecca of sort to passers-by the time NAN visited the area.

Ozouani said at about 12:45 a.m., the command got a directive to escort the jet from MMA Ikeja to Badagry (by road).

“The operation was led by one Capt. Matthew Ekehinde, but in the process of the journey, one of the jet's tyres burst at College Bus Stop and the jet could not move.

“It was parked at Dapsey Filling Station along Igando for repairs .We have  provided security for the plane until it is moved to Badagry,'' he said.

Ozouani said that the movement of the jet to Badagry from Ikeja was in response to the Federal Government's directives that plane owners should remove non-operational aircraft from the nation's airsides and tarmacs because they constitute security and safety risks. 

NAN observed that the right flank tyre of the jet had already burst while the two front ones and the left flank tyres have begun to deflate.

Also, some parts of the right and left wings of the jet had been cut with saws to reduce its with in conformity with what could be towed on a motorway.

Also speaking, Mr Supo Atobatele, General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), confirmed that that there was no record of any plane mishap.

"It must have been one of those junks being removed from the MMA airside, following a directive from the Federal Ministry of Aviation.

"There is no record of any missing plane in the airspace from our Total Radar Control of Nigeria (TRACON) facilities,'' Atobatele said on phone.

Also, Mr Tunji Oketunmbi, the spokesman of the Accident investigation Bureau (AIB), debunked claims of any air crash when contacted on phone.

Meanwhile, the petrol station manager, who refused to disclose his name, said: “We came in here this morning to resume work only to meet the private jet here.”

He lamented that the incident had caused the station a drop in patronage as motorists could not drive into the station to buy fuel.

Also, Mr Olugbenga Adeoye , a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), who led policemen to the scene, said that he was not authorized to speak to  the press.

"Yes, I am on ground here to lead other policemen to control crowd and traffic movements and not to speak to the press,” Adeoye said. 


Source:  http://leadership.ng

http://registry.faa.gov/aN972TF
 
Published on June 13, 2013 by pmnews

A junk plane belonging to flamboyant preacher and founder of Bethel Ministries, the late Gabriel Oduyemi, triggered panic across Lagos, southwest Nigeria, on Thursday when it was sighted on the ground far from the Lagos airport, leaving many people wondering if another plane had crashed.

The American registered aircraft, marked- N972TF, with inscription G O, Gabriel Oduyemi Crusades, was towed from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja area of Lagos and dumped near Dapsey petrol station in Igando area of the state.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Engineer Nnamdi Udoh said in a statement that the aircraft belonging to the late clergyman had long been parked at a NAMA facility up till Wednesday night when it was eventually removed.

Udoh said the aircraft was released to Captain M.J.Ekeinde who will be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. He said a cross section of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new location.

“This morning, we were inundated with phone calls and enquiries over a crash involving a small aircraft but there is nothing like that It is a hoax because our system did not capture any missing plane,” Udoh said.

Before Udoh’s explanation, the social media were awash with millions of people making calls to friends and family members who were either at airports or on their way to board planes.

Residents of Igando for instance were scared with many of them thinking that the jet had crashed in the night at the filling station. Many residents gathered at the filling station wondering how the jet managed to get to the place.

An official at the scene even claimed that the jet was being taken to Badagary area of Lagos before one of its tires burst.

Many residents who spoke to P.M.NEWS said when they woke up this morning and saw the plane, panic gripped them.

According to a resident who identified himself as Emmanuel John, nobody could explain how the plane got there. He said they immediately contacted the police. The security agents were  trying to bring sanity at the scene and to control the passage of vehicles on LASU road in Igando. They placed notice board on the road explaining to the public that it was not a crashed plane. So widespread was the rumor that the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, issued a statement.

The rumour circulating on social media Thursday morning about a plane crash in Lagos is one of the “evils of social media,” the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said Thursday.

Social media was awash with unconfirmed reports of an aircraft crashing at Igando, a Lagos suburb; with a particular tweet saying that the “plane crashed breaking its two wings.”

Ibrahim Farinloye, NEMA Spokesperson for South-West, debunked the rumor, saying that it was a scrap airplane being evacuated from the airport.

“It was just the scrap of an aircraft that was being evacuated from the airport. The Federal Government had issued a directive that all scrap aircraft be evacuated from all airports, as well as scrap ships from our waterways,” Mr. Farinloye said

Mr. Farinloye said that the rumor was “one of the evils of social media.”

“The evacuation is usually done at night to forestall this kind of public misinformation by mischief makers. We were there at 11.20 p.m. yesterday,” he added.

Gabriel Oduyemi was a Nigerian pastor and the founder and general overseer of Bethel Ministries Inc.  He was described as a flamboyant speaker who believed in financial prosperity for Christians.

One of the peculiar events during his services was when he would instruct the people in attendance to wave white handkerchiefs above their heads, in order to realize their miracles of becoming millionaires.


Story and Comments/Reaction:  http://pmnewsnigeria.com

Published: Thursday,  June 13,2013


An earlier unconfirmed report with the headlined BREAKING NEWS: Plane Crash At Lagos of a plane crash in Lagos has been confirmed as untrue after all. It has been confirmed that a scrap private plane belonging to Bethel Ministries Inc. stirred panic on Thursday morning as the rumor spread that another aircraft had crashed in Lagos.


On hearing the news, hundreds of residents trooped out with their camera phones and queued behind the gate bar of Dapsey Oil filling station at Igando where the plane was parked to take shots.

A senior officer of the filling station said the plane was being removed from the Ikeja Airport to Badagry when one of the tires burst and it had to be packed around 2am.

The police are having tough time controlling the swelling crowd and a young man has been arrested by the Igando police station.

Story and Photos:  http://www.osundefender.org

NEMA said crash rumor is one of the “evils of social media.

The rumor circulating on social media Thursday morning about a plane crash in Lagos is one of the “evils of social media,” the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, said Thursday.

Social media was awash with unconfirmed reports of an aircraft crashing at Igando, a Lagos suburb; with a particular tweet saying that the “plane crashed breaking its two wings.”

Ibrahim Farinloye, NEMA Spokesperson for South-West, debunked the rumor saying that it was a scrap airplane being evacuated from the airport. He clarified that the aircraft was at Mangoro and not Igando as was being circulated in social media.

“It was just the scrap of an aircraft that was being evacuated from the airport, the federal government had issued a directive that all scrap aircraft be evacuated from all airports, as well as scrap ships from our waterways,” Mr. Farinloye told PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr. Farinloye said that the rumor was “one of the evils of social media.”

“The evacuation is usually done at night to forestall this kind of public misinformation by mischief makers. We were there at 11.20 p.m. yesterday,” he added.

Story and Photo:  http://premiumtimesng.com

No comments:

Post a Comment