By Abel Orukpe
Associated Airline was one of the domestic airlines in the country prior to the October 3, 2013 accident. The airline was established in 1996 and operates scheduled commercial and cargo services. Its main base was the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
In 2007,the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA), in a bid to ensure that the domestic airlines in the country are financially strong, provide better services and safety, set a deadline of April 30, 2007 for all airlines operating in the country to re-capitalise or be grounded.
Associated Airline was one of the airlines then that satisfied the NCAA's criteria in terms of re-capitalisation and was re-registered for operation.
As at 2008, Associated Airline had three aircraft in its fleet made up of two Embraer 120 and one 1 Embraer ERJ 145. It operated into the following destinations; Abuja, Benin, Lagos Ibadan, Calabar and Makurdi
Daily Independent learnt that the airline was sold in July 2008 to a group of investors, who then launched a major route expansion and acquisition of new aircraft from Embraer.
The airline operated scheduled commercial flights and cargo until October 3, 2013, when the airline's Embraer 120 aircraft, flight 361 crashed into the Joint Users Hydrant Installation (JUHI) at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, shortly on takeoff from Lagos to Akure. The aircraft was on a charter flight taking the body of the former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu for burial. The crash killed 16 of the 20 people on board, with four survivors including two crew.
Compensation to victims' families
In line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, the airline is expected to pay initial payment of $30,000, which is the 30 per cent of $1000,000 families of the victims within three months after the crash but this was flouted by the airline.
The airline finally paid the $30,000 initial compensation to each of the relations of the 16 victims in May 2014 in accordance with ICAO standards.
While these families have gotten the initial compensation of $30,000, Miss Oluwatoyin Samson, a surviving cabin crew is lamenting and asking the airline to pay her compensation
She demanded for full compensation from the management of the airline, adding that she has been inhumanly treated by the airline, despite sustaining injuries during the accident.
Samson disclosed that she has not been paid a dime one year after the crash ,adding that she is entitled to full compensation from Associated Airlines having worked for them and sustained injuries in the crash that occurred in October 3,2013.
She said that since the airline has paid the initial 30 per cent compensation to 16 families of the victims, she is also entitled to compensation.
The Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99)
The Montreal Convention of 1999(MC99) states that airlines wishing to operate on domestic routes shall adopt the approved liability limits in line with the requirement of ICAO, which states that the airline shall pay compensation, in the case of death, or injury of passengers, of $100,000 per person; destruction, loss or delay of baggage shall be $1,000 and destruction, loss damage or delay of cargo shall be $20 per kilo.
MC99 according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a modernisation and unification of the different treaty regimes covering airline liability that have developed haphazardly since 1929.
IATA stated that the global ratification of MC99 is an industry priority and that MC99, which took effect in 2003, gives consumers better protection and compensation and facilitates faster air cargo shipments, while airlines enjoy greater certainty about the rules affecting their liability.
According to IATA, 10 years after MC99 came into force only 107 of the 191 ICAO-contracting states, which represent just 55 per cent of the total, have adopted it, lamenting that a number of fast-growing aviation markets in Asia, such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Russia are yet to sign up.
IATA pointed out that what this means is that a patchwork of liability regimes exists around the world and that the result is confusion and complexity in determining which regime covers a particular passenger or cargo itinerary.
The airline body stated that claims handling and litigation from claims or accidents are unnecessarily complicated.
In a nutshell, the Association has said that MC99 was brought about mainly to amend liabilities to be paid to families for death or injury whilst on board an aircraft.
Benefits of MC99
According to IATA, ratification of MC99 by states including Nigeria will provide significant benefits to all parties; airlines and passengers will allow passengers to benefit from fairer compensation and greater protection and airlines will benefit from greater certainty about the rules governing their liability across their international route network.
But despite the benefits ,there are insinuations that Associated Airline is either not ready to pay the full compensation or does not have the capacity to pay the compensation due to alleged lack of insurance cover by the airline one year after the crash.
While some are alleging that the airline does not have insurance cover, others said that Associated Airline has insurance cover but that the airline is not paying its premium as agreed with the unnamed insurance company, adding that that is the reason the airline has delayed in paying the $30,000 initial compensation to the families of the victims.
Reminded that if Associated Airline doesn't have insurance, it would not have been able to pay the delayed initial compensation, a source, who does not want his name in print, alleged that the money was sourced from banks, as according to him, the airline has not mentioned the name of any insurance company since the accident occurred till date.
"Where is the insurance company? I challenge the airline to tell the public who its insurance company is or are" the source said
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA's) role
The role of the regulatory agency in this matter is unfortunate. At a time like this, stakeholders and experts would expect NCAA to know, but it has not lived up to its billing .Severally, Daily Independent has sent text messages to the then Acting Director General of NCAA ,Engr Benedict Adeyileka on the issue of Associated Airline not having insurance cover, but he has dodged the questions.
In one of the occasions, he promised to get back but never did.
Again, when journalists confronted the Acting DG with the issue of Associated Airline insurance cover shortly after he presented Airline Operator's Certificate (AOC) to Azman Airline, one of the new entrants into the airline business, he initially claimed it was not the duty of the NCAA, referring journalists to the Airline.
But when journalists insisted that NCAA, as the industry regulator should be in a better position to clarify this issue, Adeyileka agreed to get back to us and as at the time of compiling this report ,he has not.
Experts say that the refusal of both the Airline and the regulatory body to tell Nigerians the name of the insurance company in Nigeria that insured that aircraft has further continued to raise questions as to the effectiveness of NCAA as a regulator.
But while tongues are wagging and doubting Thomas are still trying to figure out the truth, the Airline is claiming that the accident airplane had a foreign insurance cover prior to the accident.
The Airline claimed that the aircraft had insurance cover with a foreign insurance company , Sema, a marine and aviation insurance firm based in Florida, United States and that all the documents are okay.
Stakeholders comments
Speaking on the inability of Associated Airlines to pay the families of the victims of the crash their compensation, the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Securities, Grp Capt, John Ojikutu (rtd) laid the blame on the doorstep of NCAA, pointing out that the inability of the regulatory body to carry out oversight function is the reason why airlines don't pay victims of air crash in the country compensation.
He stated that the issue of airlines having insurance cover is part of the economic regulation which the NCAA has not been carrying out well.
To buttress his point, Ojikutu, who is also an aviation security expert, cited the case of Aviation Development Company Airlines (ADC) whose aircraft crashed on November 7, 1996 and October 29, 2006, with the airline claiming that the aircraft were insured in Russia.
According to him, "The issue of airline insurance is part of the economic regulations we have always been talking about that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been shying away from because most operators are government sponsored or sponsors. It was the inability of most of these operators to pay insurance that brought about their demise. From EAS to ADC, Wings Airlines, Kings, Associated etc. NCAA inability to carry out the oversight is largely responsible for operators to get away with their responsibility to crash victims.
He continued: "Has ADC been able to settle its liability to its numerous crashes when its primary insurance company was in Russia? Does NCAA know the insurance companies of our domestic operators? Do operators and NCAA comply with the part 18 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs)? We have serious problems about economic regulations except crash victims exercise their rights and exploit legal options on operators".
On his part, the Head Research and Corporate Travel at Zenith Travel, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, said NCAA must not only ensure that Associated Airlines pay all the families of the victims and those who survived the crash compensation but that it should also ascertain the payment .
He warned NCAA against allowing the Airline to commence operation if it fails to pay compensation.
In addition, Associated Airline, he said, must go through a comprehensive audit before commencing operations
"I think it is too early to return to operation. They have to go through a comprehensive audit, economic inclusive while payment to all passengers and crew involved in that crash must be ascertained. NCAA must ensure that those that survived are not short changed, the rule must be corrected and enforced by the NCAA."
Ohunayo stated that the Associated Airline accident is the first accident the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) made effective use of the new laboratory by releasing the preliminary report in a record time.
He said that Nigerians are awaiting the comprehensive report that will confirm their suspicion on the state of the aircraft and some actions or inactions of the operating crew, adding that by and large, the economic regulatory aspect which is the weak link, is still suspect.
According to him: "The autonomous economic monitoring and intelligence unit that should have taken over this function as stated in the new civil aviation policy is probably gathering dust somewhere in Aviation Ministry. We need to amend the NCAA Act for the unit to take off."
Source: Daily Independent
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