The
Federal Government has instituted an annual aviation safety programme
in memory of the victims of the June 3, 2012 Dana Air crash.
To mark the one year remembrance of
the crash, which killed over 157 persons in Lagos, the Federal
Government said it would unveil a cenotaph in their memory on Monday
(today).
The aircraft, marked J9 992, took off
from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and crashed at Iju
Ishaga on the outskirts of Lagos.
The Ministry of Aviation
spokesperson, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said, “The safety week will be observed
from June 3, 2013, and will be done every year in honour of those, who
lost their lives in one of the most tragic accidents in the history of
air transport in Nigeria.”
Dati said the Bishop of Sokoto
Diocese, Matthew Kukah, would lead the church service for the ceremony,
while the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah would be the chief host.
The ceremony, he said, would climax with the unveiling of the cenotaph.
He added that the safety week would
start with the evaluation of the actions the ministry had taken to
improve safety in the industry.
According to him, there has been the introduction of some safety critical equipment since the Dana Air crash.
Dati said the ministry had given
safety and security priority in line with the Technical and
Administrative Review Committee’s recommendations.
He said, “In the last one year, there
has been improvement in communication, navigation and installation of
modern surveillance equipment in all the airports in the country. There
have been massive training and human capacity development of Air Traffic
Controllers and other technical personnel of all the agencies in the
aviation sector.”
