NCAA suspends ASky Airline for flying Ebola virus victim into Nigeria
(Nigeria )
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has suspended all ASky Airline flight
operations to Nigeria
over the transportation of an Ebola virus victim into the country.
Mr Benedict Adeyileka, the Acting Director-General of NCAA,
announced the decision in a statement issued by the General Manager, Public
Communications of NCAA, Mr Fan Ndubuoke, in Lagos on Monday.
He said that the regulatory authority had to take the action
to protect Nigerians from the deadly Ebola virus, currently ravaging some parts
of Africa .
The News agency of
The airline flew a Liberian
infected with Ebola virus into Lagos ,
where he died.
Adeyileka said the Country Manager of ASky had been invited to explain issues relating to the trip but that
he could not offer any conclusive or substantial evidence on the matter.
He said that the
airline manager did not demonstrate any capacity to be able to prevent a
reoccurrence or possible transportation of Ebola victims into Nigeria .
``This is contrary to the provision of Article 14 of the
Chicago Convention,1944, which states that `Each contracting State agrees to
take effective measures to prevent the spread by means of air navigation, of
cholera.
“Also of typhus (epidemic), smallpox, yellow fever, plague
and such other communicable diseases as the contracting state shall from time
to time decide to designate.
“The International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, has
similarly prescribed measures (Standard Practices) in Annex 9 to the Convention
which a state must take to prevent the spread of communicable disease in the
event of an outbreak.
“Annex 11 (Air Traffic Services) and Annex 14 (Aerodromes,
Volume 1-Aerodrome Design and Operations) require air traffic services and
aerodromes to establish contingency planning or aerodrome emergency plans,
respectively for public health emergencies of International concern,''
Adeyileka said. .
He noted that the lives of millions of Nigerians were too
precious to be risked on the platter of negligence of an airline.
“The airline operations was therefore suspended with
immediate effect until it is able to sufficiently and evidently prove that adequate
machinery is in place to provide adequate screening of passengers in all their
points of operation, including profiling of each passenger,'' he said.
Adeyileka directed
the Directorate of Air Transport Regulation to proceed to write a letter of investigation
to the airline.
He said that the agency would also write to other airlines
operating into and out of Nigeria
to ensure they put in place all necessary preventive measures during screening
of passengers.
Adeyileka assured Nigerians that NCAA would coordinate the
establishment of a Rapid Response Health Team at the International airports,
being major ports of entry.
“This is to prevent the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Nigeria
according to International best practices.
“The authority will support all the relevant health
authorities in the implementation of adequate health measures,'' he said.
Similarly, Arik Air which had earlier suspended flights to Monrovia and Freetown
has been advised to maintain the cessation of flights until cleared by NCAA.
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