LAGOS, Dec. 18 -- Nigeria has grounded all Boeing 737- 100, 200 and 200C series aircraft which dominate Africa's most populous country's aviation industry after two deadly air crashes in two months, a government directive said.
According to the directive made available on Sunday, the presidential task force on verification of airworthiness set up earlier this week by the Nigerian government described the action as "precautionary measure."
The task force explained that the US Federal Aviation Administration had identified "stress corrosion cracks ... in the front spar of the center section of the horizontal stabilizer on two Boeing 737, 100 and 200 series aircraft" that could lead to the loss of control of the airplane.
"The repetitive inspection was therefore called up to address the identified unsafe condition," the directive said. "In this regard, as a precautionary measure, all operators of Boeing models B737- 100, 200 and 200c series airplanes registered or operating in Nigeria are required to immediately ground their airplanes."
Over 80 percent of aircraft operators in Nigeria use Boeing 737- 200, according to Nigerian newspapers while statistics showed that a total of 16 planes were affected by the directive.
The directive came on the heels of penultimate Saturday's Sosoliso Airlines plane crash in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt which claimed 106 lives. Another deadly air crash involving a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737-200 occurred on October 22 on the outskirts of the commercial capital Lagos. All 117 people on board died.
Angry President Olusegun Obasanjo called an emergency meeting on air safety on Tuesday, pledging to do everything to ensure that aviation industry is sanitized. The first move he took after the meeting was to ground two domestic airlines. He also ordered the inspection of other airlines in one week.
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