Indian-owned Dana Air's operations suspended in Nigeria

Abuja: Nigerian civil aviation authorities today suspended operations of Dana Air, an Indian-owned commercial passenger carrier, after the country’s parliament complained of its shoddy manner of paying compensations to victims of a crash last year that left nearly 200 people dead. In June last year, a Dana MD-83 aircraft had crashed in Lagos while flying from Abuja, killing more than 160 people. The Nigerian government had suspended the airline’s operating licence immediately after the crash. [caption id=“attachment_664914” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A body of a crash victim being carried away by the Nigerian police. File photo. Agencies.[/caption] In September, the Civil Aviation Ministry lifted the flying ban on Dana Air.“Dana has been asked to suspend operation. The action was intended to enable proper sorting out of all the issues surrounding the June 3rd crash, including the compensation of the victim’s families,” spokesman for the Minister of Aviation Joe Obi told PTI. Last week, Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Harold Demuren was removed by the government for what they described as his inability to provide sufficient explanation on some issues related to the investigation. PTI