The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), yesterday, waded into the operations of the United Nigeria Airlines (UNA), following incidents that raised concerns on the integrity of its flight services.

As a precautionary measure, the apex regulator has also suspended the operations of leased aircraft in the UNA fleet.

The airline made headlines Sunday when its Lagos-Abuja flight suddenly arrived at Asaba International Airport, Asaba, with prior notice.

The crew compounded the confusion announcing arrival at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport while the actual location was Asaba, Delta State.

UNA’s Head of Corporate Communications, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, had said that the diversion was in order, but for an error on the part of the cabin crew on arrival at Asaba.

Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu, said the probe would look into the circumstances surrounding United Nigeria flight NUA 0506 to Asaba, and the confusion it has created in the public domain.

Nuhu said preliminary steps had been taken pending conclusions of the ongoing investigation.

The Guardian learnt that one of the steps was to ground two leased aircraft in the fleet of UNA, pending the guarantee of their compliance with standard procedure and safety.

The DG reassured the traveling public that the NCAA would leave no stone unturned “as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry.”

The inaccurate report of destination on Sunday elicited a flurry of negative comments in the social media against the airline and the local aviation.

Recall that in June, scores of passengers panicked, as an aircraft operated by United Nigeria Airlines skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed Airport II (MMA2) in Lagos.

The 50-seater jet, with full cabin, was flying in from the Abakaliki Airport in Ebonyi State, when the incident happened.

United Nigeria, however, has one of the latest safety compliance certifications in the country. The two-year-old airline took the industry by surprise recently when it recorded a major feat in the international safety certification programme, scaling the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) hurdle, ahead of its regional and international operations.

IOSA, the globally accepted evaluation system that is designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline, is a safety prestige for world airlines, and a pre-requirement for the membership of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).