Unreleased 2022 NCAA Audit Report Indicting Dana Airline

Unreleased 2022 NCAA audit report on Dana Air, which exposed the airline's lack of competence in safe flight operations, unearthed — comprehensive details

One day after one of Dana Air's planes, registered as 5N BKI and operating from Abuja to Lagos, skidded off the Murtala Muhammed Airport runway in Lagos, Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo on April 24, 2024, ordered the suspension of the airline for the second time since it started conducting commercial operations in Nigeria in 2008.

Fortunately, none of the 83 passengers suffered any injuries.

The minister then commanded a thorough examination of the airline covering all facets of maintenance practices, safety standards, and financial stability to guarantee complete adherence to aviation industry laws.

The airline's license to conduct business in Nigeria was initially revoked in July 2022. Its aircraft had performed an emergency landing. Fortunately, all passengers safely departed, and the aircraft was forced to land.

Following an examination that determined the airline was financially unqualified to conduct safe commercial flights, the carrier's Air Transport License and Air Operators Certificate were both withdrawn.

On behalf of the Minister of Aviation, Captain Musa Nuhu, the Director-General of NCAA, approved the decision to suspend Dana Air's commercial operation permit indefinitely.

Director-General of NCAA Captain Musa Nuhu approved the instruction to suspend Dana Air's commercial operation license indefinitely on behalf of the Minister of Aviation.

“The decision is the outcome of a financial and economic health audit carried out on the Airline by the Authority, and the findings of an investigation conducted on the Airline's flight operations recently, which revealed that Dana Airlines is no longer in a position to meet its financial obligations and to conduct safe flight operations,” Nuhu said.

Unfortunately, neither the audit's methodology nor its conclusions were disclosed.

based on the audit report, which was withheld for nearly two years. The audit report is as negative as they come.

The NCAA reported that it completed a Financial and Economic Health Audit of Dana Airlines Limited in June 2022 in a report dated July 20, 2022, signed by Nuhu and submitted to the responsible manager of the airline. The evaluation period was from December 31, 2018, to December 31, 2021, and from January 1, 2022, to May 31, 2022.

Details of the audit are provided below:

a) Dana Air was unable to meet its obligations as they fall due without resorting to more borrowings/debts, as the current liabilities far exceed the current assets. This is a red flag on the Airline's ability to finance current obligations.

b) The shareholders fund (equity) has been in the negative since 2018, and it will take Dana Air several years of operation for retained earnings to erase the negative equity.

c) The debt to capital ratio is negative, showing that Dana Air is being financed by debts.

d) Dana Air pays staff salaries in batches, between the 1st and the 10th of the succeeding month, and recently sent some employees on compulsory three months leave without pay, an indication of serious liquidity challenge in the payment of staff entitlements, with the consequence of depressed morale, low productivity and consequent impact on safety.

e) The going concern of the Dana Air is under serious financial threat, as corroborated in the external auditors report.

Furthermore, throughout the month of April 2022, NCAA conducted an investigation into Dana Air's flight operations. The investigations were conducted on July 14 and 15, 2022. The inquiry found that Dana Air had engaged in a number of egregious operational infractions, among of which were:

a) Dana Air operated several flights on the MD 80 fleet with no licensed Captain. A Captain of over 65 years of age sat on the jump seat, while a senior first officer on upgrade training sat on the left seat with a line first officer sitting on the right seat.

b) A Senior First Officer occupied the left seat while a First Officer occupied the right seat and operated Dana flight 342 LOS - PHC with aircraft 5N-DKI on 23rd of April, 2022. The flight continued from PHC - ABV and then ABV-LOS. The SF/O even went as far as signing the technical logbook.

c) On 20th of April, 2022, a re-qualifying Captain, flew with a line Captain, instead of a line trainer (instructor) or a Check Airman.

d) Dana Air's Director of Flight Operations, conducted checks on the aircraft even though his Check Airman authorization had expired on the 12th of September, 2020 and, in addition, he was over 65 years of age.

e) One of Dana Air's Captain who had attained 65 years of age in July, 2021, operated several flights on the jump seat. Also, his Check Airman authorization expired on 23rd August, 2021 but he continued to exercise the privilege.

f) The Chief Pilot of Dana Air, who does not have an NCAA Check Airman Authorization, yet conducted checks.

g) Flight deck crews scheduled for flights disregarded flight duty times and crew rest regulations. The Zapways rostering system utilized by Dana Air, although a good system, is open to manipulation by the scheduling and rostering staff.

Similarly, Dana Air and its staff faced penalties from the NCAA due to maintenance violations. The airline was unable to pay the entire N30,000,000.00 (thirty million naira) penalties due to financial issues. Furthermore, the AME License of the former airline Director of Maintenance was revoked due to the false statements and entries made in the technical logbooks of aircraft 5N-SAI and 5N-JOY.

The AME License of the airline's quality inspector and the AMEL Validation of one of its foreign maintenance engineers were suspended for sixty (60) days each as a result of maintenance offenses.

The Authority is convinced that Dana Air and its personnel deliberately violate the provisions of the Nig. CARs relating to safety and therefore the Airline is no longer in a position to conduct safe operations.

The cumulative and apparent deliberate violations of the Nig.CARS, as indicated above, by DANA Air employees, especially several key post holders is indicative of a toxic corporate the Nig.CARs, will be separately sanctioned individually, as appropriate. During the period of the suspension, the Authority shall conduct a technical audit of Dana Air.

For the suspension of your authorisations to be lifted, Dana Air must:

I. Resolve all the findings of the financial and technical audit;

II. Provide a detailed Sustainability Plan, which shall include proven financial resources for the running of the Airline for a period of at least six (6) months; and

III. Provide repayment plans for the settlement of its debts and enter into MoUs with all its creditors, including the NCAA.

Dana Air resumed regular operations on November 9, 2022, just four months later.

It's unclear how the airline fulfilled every requirement outlined by NCAA in order to win back the trust of the air regulator in just four months.

The NCAA audit was successfully completed, according to Dana Air's Chief Operating Officer Ememobong Etete, who also stated that the audit resulted in a re-engineering and restructuring of the airline's procedures. Despite the difficulties it is currently facing and the unfavorable state of the economy, he insisted that the airline is presently in a strong position to continue its safety record.

Based on the most recent incident that led to the airline being grounded indefinitely once more, the airline has not exactly adhered to its claims of maintaining a safety record.

A sequence of air incidents

The airline used to have great success in the aviation industry, but a few mishaps have given travelers anxiety because they are now the final option when it comes to purchasing aircraft tickets.

The incident with their McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating as Flight 0992, which crashed into a two-story structure at Iju Railway, Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos State, is only one of the numerous happenings that have caused passengers to feel anxious. The catastrophe claimed the lives of 153 individuals on board the aircraft. After the collision, everyone

The incident with their McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating as Flight 0992, which crashed into a two-story structure at Iju Railway, Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos State, is only one of the numerous happenings that have caused passengers to feel anxious. The catastrophe claimed the lives of 153 individuals on board the aircraft. The NCAA suspended all Dana Air flights after the accident.

In 2018, there were two incidents that happened seven days apart. The first happened on February 7, 2018, while a plane was taxiing on the runway after landing in Abuja and one of the emergency escape doors fell off. Despite the fact that the incident did not result in any casualties, passengers said that the door rattled the whole journey.

Also, on February 20, 2018, during a night landing at Port-Harcourt International Airport, a Dana Air MD-83 registered 5N-SRI strayed off the runway. The airplane sustained major damage, but there were no deaths.

Emergency landings were documented by the airline twice in February 2022. First, an emergency landing was made by one of the company's planes, registered 5N DNA, which was headed for Abuja. In the same month, 9J336—a fully occupied aircraft headed for Lagos—made an emergency landing in Abuja.

The corporation attributed the second event to inclement weather, while explaining that the first incident was caused by an indicator on one of its engines.

Another Dana Air aircraft, an MD-83, caught fire at Omagwa, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in May 2022. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

It remains to be seen if the most recent sanctions imposed on the airline will have the intended effect or, similar to other instances, whether they will be shut off and ignored while operations carry on as usual.