Mr. Dotun Onipede, COO, NCAT
Nnamdi Duru
Composite insurance group, Alliance & General Insurance (A&G) Plc has settled the claims of its major client, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology’s (NCAT), by paying over N1.2 billion as losses suffered following the crash of one of its aircrafts two years ago.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the group, Mr. Dotun Onipede made this known in a statement in Lagos over the weekend.
According to him, a TAMPICO TB9 aircraft owned by NCAT crashed May 23, 2010 during the process of landing by a trainee pilot with no human casualty.
The aircraft, he said, was totally wrecked with many of its components including the propeller, the engine, sliding gear, the fartewells, wings and curling bruised.
Commenting on the air disaster, he said: “We should give glory to God that no life was lost in the process. Our company is ready to tackle this issue with high level of urgency required being the only training institute for pilots in Nigeria.”
“Our consistency in the payment of claims has strategically placed us as a well established and reputable insurance company with high level of integrity and whose word remains its bond”.
Onipede stated that A&G has so far paid over N250 million claims to reinstate one of NCAT’s aircraft, 5N-CAG which crash landed a few months and was ferried to Denmark for repairs.
“The aircraft is ready and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has gone to inspect and will soon issue a ferry-permit to allow the aircraft to be returned to Nigeria,” he said.
He reaffirmed the company’s readiness to settle good claims, adding that the aviation mishap would soon be confined to history as the company is on ground to fulfill all its commitments under the insurance contract.
“It is in our character to face challenges of this nature as it can be seen in our records in the insurance industry,” Onipede said.
According to him, A&G has commenced the restructuring of its business in line with the industrial and international and in tune with regulatory provisions.