22nd June, 2012
The Managing Director of Dana Air, Mr. Jacky Hathiramani, Friday told members of the Joint Committee on Aviation probing the crash of Dana Air plane at Iju-Ishaga on Sunday 3 that the crashed plane was well maintained.
More than 160 passengers and residents died in the crash.
He revealed that the last time the plane went for maintenance checks was September 2011.
Hathiramani who expressed sadness over the crash, explained that prior to the crash, the company had operated according to the guidelines of the federal government.
He told the panel that the aircraft was purchased by the organisation in 2008 from Alaska airline and that it went through all the necessary safety checks before it was flown to Nigeria.
He, however, could not provide documentary evidence to show that the aircraft was well maintained as demanded by members of the panel.
He also told the committee that the aircraft was more than 20 years old.
As at the time of this report, the inquiry was still going on and the committee had demanded that the aircraft’s history should be produced by the company.
—Yahaya Funmilayo