Plane crash: FG withdraws Dana license

For safety and precautionary reasons, the federal Government yesterday withdrew the operating license of Dana Air, the owners of the ill-fated plane that crashed on Sunday in Lagos killing all 153 passengers on board with many ground casualties.Federal Government said the airline's licence has been suspended indefinitely for the negligence that resulted in the death of the passengers it was carrying on an MC Donnell Douglas MD plane.The Special Adviser on Media to the Aviation Minister, Mr. Joe Obi, said the airline has been 'suspended for safety operational reasons.' Earlier Dana had announced the suspension of its flight operations in sympathy of the victims.An aviation commentator, Mr. Chris Aligbe has described the suspension of operational license of the airline as normal procedure.'Most times when an airline is involved in a fatal accident, its operations are suspended for thorough investigation to be effected. In some other advanced economies, the aircraft model may be suspended until investigations are complete.Meanwhile, Dana Air has confirmed that the Flight Voice Recorder and Black Box from the Boeing MD83 aircraft which was involved in the tragic accident on Sunday, June 3 have been recovered by the joint team comprising the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).A flight data recorder (FDR) (also ADR, for accident data recorder) is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters. Popularly referred to as a 'black box', the data recorded by the FDR is used for accident investigation, as well as for analyzing air safety issues, material degradation and engine performance.Recovery of the device has raised hopes of finding out the cause of the crash.Jacky Hathiramani, CEO of Dana Air said: 'We are grateful for the progress made by the aviation authorities towards determining the cause of the unfortunate accident and we will continue to offer our full support while the investigations last.''There are absolutely no words to accurately express our grief and sorrow over this tragedy. We have not only lost some of the most loyal and valued guests of the airline but also eminent citizens, as well as promising young ones, to the accident. We have also lost some of the finest and most dedicated staff that any organisation can dream of.
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