The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has ordered the immediate grounding of Rano Air aircraft 5N-BZY following an engine failure incident.

This directive is part of the NCAA's strict enforcement of aviation safety protocol compliance across all carriers operating in the Nigerian airspace.

The affected Rano aircraft experienced a malfunction on Engine 1 during operations as smoke was observed in the cabin and cockpit.

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In response, the flight crew immediately donned oxygen masks and activated all appropriate emergency procedures to prepare for safe landing.

Fortunately, the smoke dissipated before landing, and the aircraft was safely landed without further incident by the flight's captain.

However, the NCAA's Directorate of Airworthiness instructed that the aircraft 5N-BZY must remain grounded pending full safety investigation.

Engineers were seen examining the aircraft on the ground to determine the cause of the problem.

The incident caused disruptions for passengers, particularly affecting travellers scheduled to depart from Sokoto to another destination.

As it would have created problems to deboard those passengers, the flight out of Sokoto was, therefore, cancelled.

Meanwhile, NCAA reiterated that it will not compromise on aviation safety protocol compliance, even when disruptions inconvenience flight operations.

The Authority stated that Nigerian aviation's safety record remains solid, despite the challenges of operating in a developing environment.

According to NCAA, countries with more advanced aviation infrastructure still report more severe incidents than Nigeria experiences.

"5N-BYZ is still on the ground with engineers working on it. The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, prioritises safety. The records are clear.

"More advanced countries have worse air incidents than Nigeria because, here, flights will get cancelled if there is the slightest concern about safety," the NCAA stated.