Aviation
Court fails to give specific verdict on Dana crash
LAGOS – Exactly two years after 153 passengers and crew of the ill-fated Dana Aircraft perished in Lagos, Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe of the Lagos coroner, Tuesday, held that the court could not arrive at a specific verdict on the cause of the crash owing to inconclusive investigation by the Accident Investigation Bureau, (AIB).
However, the presiding coroner only made recommendations on steps to be taken by authorities to avoid future mistakes as well as improving rescue operations whenever such incident occurs.
In his one hour judgment, Coroner Komolafe x-rayed the circumstances leading to the inquest as well as the number of people and government agencies that testified before him and concluded that no verdict could be arrived at due to failure of the AIB, the body responsible for investigating air crash to present a formal report of its investigations to it.
Though, according to him the composition of the coroner court by the Chief Coroner, Justice Lateefa Okunnu was in line with the Coroner law of Lagos State, however, he only achieved little due to unavailability of the report of the investigation of the AIB.
The chambers of Falana and Falana had filed petition asking the State Chief Coroner to compose a coroner for an inquest to among other things find out the cause(s) of the air crash.
Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, a principal partner at the law firm, in the request made to the State Chief Coroner, alleged that the aircraft was granted permission to fly, in spite of being defective.
He stated that investigations into the incident revealed that the events leading to the crash were poorly managed, hence the ghastly crash and subsequent loss of lives.
“The distress call made by the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft several minutes before the crash was ignored by the airport authorities. The management of the disaster was crude, as members of the public had to use bare hands in the rescue operations,” he said.
Falana said the request was pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s Law 2007, which stipulates that an inquest should be held whenever a coroner is informed that the death of a person within his district was “in a violent, unnatural or suspicious situation.”
According to Komolafe, 17 witnesses including security agencies, emergency agencies, state Chief Pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa, representatives of the airline and other governmental agencies gave evidences.
At the end of his findings, Komolafe made a nine-point recommendations to the authorities to respond to such future emergency case.
These includes the “establishment of national body for logistics and supply for the body handlers and retrievals and that they should be meeting at intervals”; urgent need for the forensic science laboratory in each geopolitical zones and any state that can have such.
He also called for an enactment of a national Coroner system; the provision of fire services in each local government of the federation.
Other recommendations by the Coroner include provision of equipments for all emergency agencies; establishment of radio unit service in all emergency units that will be link to each other,
Apart from these, he suggested the establishment of national and state corps and inter-agency cooperation among all emergency agencies.
The Dana air mishap of June 3, 2012, claimed the lives of 153 people on board the aircraft as well as about 10 victims on the ground.
On June 18, 2012, an inquest into the cause of the accident began in Lagos, the inquest was, however, halted three months later after a group filed a suit at the Federal High Court challenging the jurisdiction of the coroner.
When the inquest resumed, weeks later, testimonies by the pathologist who conducted an autopsy on the deceased’s bodies continued.
Dana Air’s Director of Flight Operations as well as a consultant to the Accident Investigation Bureau resumed their testimonies, from where he told the court that AIB was yet to conclude its findings on the crash.
Other witnesses who appeared before the coroner included officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, National Emergency Management Agency, as well as the Lagos State Fire Service.
– VANGUARD
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has welcomed efforts to promote safe helicopter services across Africa in a proposed Regional Action Plan (RAP).
The plan, according to a company statement, is the highlight of a workshop organised in Lagos within the week by the Aviation subcommittee of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) in partnership with London-based safety advocacy group, HeliOffshore.
Biztellers reports that the two-day Offshore Helicopter Industry Safety Workshop (OHISW) with the theme “Developing a Regional Action Plan,” followed on from a similar session last year which SNEPCo sponsored.
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It also provided administrative and logistical support for this year’s conference which was sponsored by ExxonMobil. SNEPCo, which pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater production at Bonga in 2005, relies on helicopter shuttles for operations and supports the workshop as part of its contributions towards safe services in Nigeria.
In an address at the opening session delivered by General Manager Contracting and Supply Chain, Charles Oranyeli, Managing Director SNEPCo, Ronald Adams said: “By developing a regional action plan, we can move beyond dialogue to alignment, ensuring that the safety leadership, industry standards, and collaborative approaches championed last year are embedded in a common roadmap for collective improvement. The most effective solutions will come not from isolated efforts, but from partnership, standardization, and coordinated action across the region.”
The workshop was attended by more than 80 representatives from oil and gas companies, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), helicopter operators and original equipment manufacturers.
The event concluded with participants deciding action items for the proposed Regional Action Plan including Search and Rescue (SAR) initiatives, implementation of IOGP Report 690 standards and establishment of formal industry leadership forums.
The IOGP has been active for over 50 years, supporting its more than 90 members around the world to promote “excellence in safe, efficient and sustainable energy.”
The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has declared that airlines operating in Nigeria have come under financial pressure following a sharp increase in the price of Jet-A1, also known as aviation fuel.
According to the group, the price of aviation fuel, has surged to about N1,800 per litre in many parts of the country, from about N1,000 per litre two weeks ago. This amounts to almost an 80 per cent increase within a short period.
Aviation fuel remains the largest cost component in airline operations, accounting for about 30 to 35 per cent of total operating expenses.
Industry stakeholders have linked the latest spike to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has pushed up global energy prices.
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Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, the spokesperson for the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Prof Obiora Okonkwo, said the surge had placed airlines under severe financial strain.
According to him, most carriers have so far refrained from immediately transferring the additional cost burden to passengers, despite the pressure on their operations.
“Two weeks ago, we were getting Jet-A1 at about N1,000 per litre, which today is about N1,800, and even more in some stations. We have experienced an increase of about 80 per cent. That’s quite a spike,” Okonkwo said.
He explained that airlines were currently absorbing the losses in order to avoid worsening the economic burden on the travellers.
“We are not in a business where you can easily adjust your ticket price. Right now what we are doing is that we are bleeding. We are taking the blow. We are selling tickets at very non-profitable prices. We are losing a lot of money,” he said.
Okonkwo warned that the situation might not be sustainable if fuel prices continue to rise without government intervention.
“Obviously, adjustments will be expected anytime soon. But again, we are very sensitive to the economic situation of Nigerians and our travellers,” he added.
He noted that developments in the global oil market, particularly the recent release of reserve crude oil, could influence fuel prices in the coming weeks.
Okonkwo also urged the Federal Government to explore engagement with the Dangote Refinery as part of efforts to stabilise aviation fuel supply locally.
“We were more hopeless in a situation where there was no refinery in Nigeria in the last two years. Now that we have a refinery, we are hopeful that we can find a solution around it,” he said.
According to him, if the spike persists, some airlines may struggle to continue absorbing the losses associated with the rising cost of aviation fuel.
Meanwhile, the AON spokesperson also reacted to the decision by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to sanction about five airlines over alleged price fixing.
Okonkwo said while the commission has regulatory powers, the aviation sector remains deregulated, making coordinated price fixing unlikely.
“There is no meeting of airlines where they agree to fix prices. Fixing prices would mean operating as a cartel, and that is not the case,” he said.
He explained that airline ticket pricing varies widely because different aircraft types attract different operating costs.
“Each airline determines its fares based on its own operational costs,” he said.
Okonkwo added that airlines must also demonstrate financial viability to regulators as part of the conditions for maintaining their operating licences.
“At every point in time, you must prove to the regulators that you are financially viable and capable of sustaining operations,” he said.
He urged regulators to take into account the fragile nature of the aviation industry when making policy decisions affecting airlines.
An Air Peace flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt has suffered a disruption, after the aircraft was affected by a bird strike on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
The airline made the disclosure on Thursday in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Osifo-Whiskey Efe.
He added that the incident necessitated safety checks on the affected aircraft and the deployment of another aircraft to convey passengers on subsequent flights.
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“We deeply empathise with passengers affected by this unforeseen incident and are working diligently to minimise disruptions,” Efe said.
The latest incident adds to the growing challenge of bird strikes faced by local airlines.
In December 2025, Air Peace disclosed that it recorded 49 bird strikes across Nigeria between January and September, stressing that even a single strike could ground an aircraft for weeks.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Allen Onyema, had said on Arise TV that bird strikes constituted a major operational challenge, often leading to costly repairs and serious disruptions to flight schedules.
“One bird strike could cripple your aircraft for the next month. At that moment, there is no two ways about it. These bird strikes often lead to costly delays and serious disruptions in flight schedules,” he said.
He added that losses from such incidents compound other challenges facing Nigerian airlines, including heavy taxation and operational constraints.
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