The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has said that it cannot sanction any airline involved in the recent air incidents witnessed in the sector without having complete investigative reports on the various incidents.

According to the NCAA, the recent incidents at airports involving some domestic airlines are largely due to increased activities in the aviation sector, while the serious one at the Port Harcourt airport was caused by bad weather.

The agency, however, stated that it would implement whatever recommendations contained in the final reports of the Accident Investigation Bureau as regards the incidents.

It added that what had been so far released by the AIB on some of the incidents were preliminary and not final investigative reports.

When asked if the NCAA had sanctioned any of the carriers involved in the recent incidents, the agency’s General Manager, Public Relations, Sam Adurogboye, told our correspondent that incidents were bound to occur, but noted that the agency was expecting final reports on the recent ones.

He said, “Whenever an incident is investigated by the AIB, the NCAA has to wait for the report. The report is what will form the next line of action. If it recommends sanction, we will apply it. If it recommends that certain things should be fixed, then the appropriate thing to do is to have such things fixed.

“However, incidents are bound to occur once there are operations in the sector. The more operations you have, the more incidents you tend to have. So people shouldn’t think that the incidents are due to negligence. The reports of these incidents are analysed as they come in from time to time so that the situations will not lead to accidents.

“But after investigations and the report establish that a particular incident was due to negligence, it will recommend sanctions and these will be applied. This is what we need to explain to our people.”