Meanwhile, two major air crashes have occurred under Oduah’s watch.
These were the Dana Air crash in Lagos
on June 3, 2012, in which 163 people died; and the Associated Airlines
crash of October 3, 2013, also in Lagos, which claimed 15 lives.
A day after the Associated Airlines’
crash, a Kabo Airlines’ Boeing 747-400 plane carrying 512 pilgrims made
an emergency landing at the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres and
damaged the airport’s Instrument Landing System.
On Sunday, an IRS Airlines Fokker 100
plane carrying 99 passengers also made an emergency landing at the
Kaduna airport, after developing hydraulic problems mid-air.
Four days after the tragic crash
involving Associated Airlines’ Embraer 120 plane, Oduah described air
accidents as God’s will that were inevitable.
She said notwithstanding this reality, the Federal Government would continue to ensure that there were no accidents.
The minister made the submission while fielding questions from State House correspondents on investigations into the crash.
The minister said, “We do not pray for
accidents but they are inevitable. But we will continue to do everything
to ensure that we do not have accidents. But an accident is an act of
God.
“Again, we do not speculate on the
causes of accidents. Until they happen, you cannot say this is the
cause or that is not the cause. But what is obvious and is the truth is
that in aviation, there are shared responsibilities, starting from the
man that carries your luggage to the man that makes sure that your
boarding pass is issued to you.
“And so, the regulatory agency, the
operators, the management, everybody has his/her responsibility and all
must work in tandem for there to be an optimal, secure and safe
aviation sector in the country. And that is what we have been working
on.”
Oduah described those saying that she left the issue of safety in the airspace to dwell on money-making ventures as ignorant.
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