The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has grounded a Rano Air aircraft following an engine failure incident.
According to the NCAA, the aircraft, with registration number 5N-BZY, suffered a failure on its engine 1.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, disclosed this in a post on his official X handle @mikeachimugu01 while responding to a post by @emmaikumeh.
... by @emmaikumeh stated: “Something quite intriguing, or rather disturbing, happened today in Sokoto. One of the engines of a Rano Air aircraft en route from Kano to Sokoto caught fire mid-air. Thankfully, the pilot managed to land the plane safely in Sokoto using the other engine.
“However, shockingly, after just a few ‘touch-ups,’ the management of Rano Air cleared the same aircraft to fly passengers back to Kano.
“Unfortunately, just a few minutes after takeoff, the aircraft couldn’t hold up any longer and was forced to make a U-turn back to Sokoto Airport. What kind of negligence is this?”
Reacting to ..., Achimugu wrote: “The Rano aircraft 5N-BZY experienced a failure on its engine 1. Smoke was noticed in the cabin and flight deck. Oxygen masks were donned.
“The appropriate safety protocols were initiated on the ground for landing. Smoke dissipated. Pilot safely landed the aircraft without incident.
“The NCAA Directorate of Airworthiness instructed that the aircraft 5N-BZY remain grounded until the conclusion of investigations.
“The rescue aircraft that was to then airlift passengers out of Sokoto had already boarded Abuja-Katsina passengers. It would have created problems to deboard those passengers. The flight out of Sokoto was, therefore, cancelled. 5N-BZY is still on the ground with engineers working on it.”
Achimugu further emphasized: “The NCAA prioritises safety. The records are clear. More advanced countries have worse air incidents than Nigeria because, here, flights will get cancelled if there is the slightest concern about safety.”