The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has taken the decision to suspend the operations of all Boeing B737 aircraft belonging to Max Air, a domestic carrier.
This suspension comes into effect immediately, according to a letter sent by the regulatory body to the airline.
The official communication, bearing the reference NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/363 and dated July 12, 2023, is titled ‘Suspension of Parts A3 and D43 of the Operations Specifications Issued to Max Air with Immediate Effect’.
The letter was signed by Capt. Ibrahim Bello Dambazau, Director of Operations, Training and Licensing at NCAA, on behalf of Capt. Musa Nuhu, the Director General of NCAA.
This therefore means that all domestic flights operated by Max Air will remain suspended until further notice.
The letter partly reads: “The Authority’s action is due to the several occurrences that involved your Boeing B737 aircraft as listed hereunder:
“Loss of Number 1 Main Landing Gear (MLG) wheel during the serious incident involving a Boeing 737-400 aircraft, registration marks 5N-MBD which occurred between Take-off at Yola Airport Adamawa State and on landing at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja Nigeria on 7th May, 2023.”
“Fuel Contamination of the main fuel tanks of aircraft B737-300, Registration Marks; 5N-MHM, leading to the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) shutdown on ground Yola Airport on the 7th of July, 2023.”
“Aborted take-off of Boeing 737-400 aircraft, registration marks 5N-MBD, which occurred at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) due to high Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) indication on the 11th of July, 2023.”
“An air return by aircraft B737-300, Registration Marks; 5N-MHM to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) due to duct overheat indication in the cockpit on the 11th of July, 2023″
“The authority has constituted a team of inspectors to conduct an audit of your organization. The result of this audit, it said, must be found satisfactory by the Authority prior to considering the restoration of the privileges of the operations Specifications to your organisation to further operate the aircraft type.”