Elder Gbenga Olowo, President Aviation Round Table (ART)
.An aviation pressure group in Nigeria, Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ART) has frowned at the situation where a foreigner should be the Pilot In Command (PIC ) of a Nigeria Police’s helicopter, in which the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo was recently flown around during electioneering campaigns.
ART which said the development raised its concerns on the management of the Vice President’s security insisted that it is embarrassing and a slap on the abundance of professionally qualified Nigerian pilots.
A statement by the spokesperson at ART, Mr. Olu Ohunayo said: “We are deeply concerned about the management of security of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is embarrassing to see the Vice President of Nigeria being flown by a foreign pilot whether contracted or chartered in a Nigerian Police helicopter as noticed in a previous flight during this campaign season.
“ It is a slap on the huge human resource of pilots Nigeria has in abundance”.
The aviation group which joined other Nigerians in thanking God for sparing the lives of the Vice President and 11 members of his team on board the Agusta AW139 with registration number: 5N CML and serial number : 31389 owned and operated by Caverton Helicopters which crash landed in Kabba, Kogi State, equally expressed its worries on the level of preparation made for the landing and how a huge number of non professionals were allowed to rush to invade the scene of the crash.
“While waiting for the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) report of the accident, we are disturbed about the preparation made for the landing of the helicopter in that area and the crowd that surged towards the helicopter after the crash, if there had been fire, we would have experienced some casualties,” ART said.
