Keyamo: Asaba private jet incident was a security breach… pilots, crew still in DSS custody

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says the recent private jet incident in Asaba, Delta state, was a security breach.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Keyamo said the pilots and crew have been in detention at the Department of State Services (DSS) since the incident happened.

He said the aircraft, which was cleared to land by air traffic controllers (ATC), touched down on a concrete road running parallel to the runway, outside the airport perimeter.

The minister said the incident had nothing to do with Nigeria’s navigational infrastructure.

“The private jet incident in Asaba, as I speak with you, it was a security breach and we are treating it as such,” Keyamo said.

“The pilots and the crew are still in DSS detention till today, since that day, going through vigorous questioning as to what they went there to do because they were cleared to land.

“The tower cleared the aircraft to land. Two minutes later, the controller looked out and realised the aircraft was neither on the runway nor at the apron.”

He said rather than remain at the location for investigators and aviation regulators to examine the incident, the aircraft departed again.

“It was then I came into the picture. I called the director-general of the DSS. We called Lagos. As they were arriving in Lagos, they were picked up. So we are not treating it lightly,” the minister said.

Keyamo noted that the aircraft was registered in the United States, saying this explained why the pilot could legally be above the age limit applicable to Nigerian-registered aircraft.

He said the DSS is investigating the circumstances surrounding the operation of the aircraft and its presence in Nigeria.

“That is what the DSS is unravelling now, and I think the report will go straight to Mr President before we can look at it because this is a security breach,” he added.

BACKGROUND

On June 10, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded a privately operated aircraft and suspended the operator’s permit for non-commercial flight (PNCF) after it landed on a roadway in the Ogwashi-Uku area near Asaba in Delta.

The authority said preliminary information indicated that the aircraft later departed the location and returned to Lagos without obtaining the required regulatory approval.

The NCAA immediately grounded the aircraft upon its arrival in Lagos pending the outcome of investigations.

In response, VMO Aero, the aircraft operator, said the incident occurred after the flight crew aborted an unstable approach into Asaba airport.

In a preliminary report released on July 9, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) said the aircraft had been cleared to conduct an approach to runway 11 at Asaba airport, while ATC approved the crew’s request for a right orbit during the landing procedure.

According to the NSIB, the commanding pilot and the second-in-command blamed the observer pilot, who was said to have identified the paved surface as the runway, after the flight captain enquired.

The NCAA had also suspended the pilots involved in the incident, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation.