Chinedu Eze
Industry experts have warned that current incidents, including air return, collision at the tarmac and engine failures recorded by some airlines may lead to major air crash, unless operators’ activities are audited and checked by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
This was confirmed by some airline officials and top staff of NCAA who said the fears were not misplaced because the series of incidents in the past months involving Nigerian airlines may serve as prelude to major accidents, noting that past accidents followed similar pattern.
They warned that NCAA must have to take action now and strictly follow the rules in order to abort possible accident.
The NCAA official attributed these incidents to lack of proper oversight, noting that over time the regulatory body tends to relax until a major accident happens before it would wake up.
“Aircraft inspectors are supposed to enter every aircraft to inspect flights, but these days these inspectors do not have insurance, so they ask for ticket from the airlines they are going to inspect its aircraft and this jeorpardises their judgment and integrity. Your standard is then compromised. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) frowns at that,” the NCAA official said.
The official said a lot of improvement by the airlines would depend on on-the-spot check by aircraft inspectors who enter the aircraft during boarding to check the plane and if there is any compromise on safety regulation would direct the grounding of the aircraft.
It is expected that if this is done airlines would ensure that their aircraft is air worthy before preparing it for flights. Although it is said that airlines are responsible for the airworthiness of their aircraft, but NCAA must ensure that the airlines do not compromise safety.
“On-the-spot check was going on before but that has to stop because there is no insurance. The airlines may be compromising on maintenance due to the current financial situation in the country, so it needs a strict regulatory body to keep them in check,” the official said.
He also noted that if there is proper oversight the current laxity would be nipped in the bud.
“Training is going on but people are not properly trained. In NCAA there is compromise in the system because funds are not properly utilized. The technical areas should be taken care of first before the administrative because it is these areas that do the bulk of the regulation activities. There should be regular training of technical staff. It should not only be done when NCAA is about to go for audit,” he said.
The official also remarked that there are reasons why airlines are recording more incidents and attributed them to poor maintenance, inadequate training and delayed remuneration, adding that some airline staff do not receive their salaries for two months or more.
But spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye refuted the allegation of inadequate training and said the agency organizes regular training for its staff and that all the aviation workers in the airlines and in the agencies go for recommended training because without such training they would not be given licenses by NCAA to operate.
Adurogboye also said the collision incidents at the apron has to do with congestion because the spaces earmarked for 10 airplanes are currently being occupied by 20 or more aircraft, adding that although all efforts are geared towards preventing accidents but accidents happen and they happen all over the world.
“We revalidate license based on training. Any officer that has license must have undergone training. Crashes happen everyday and people do not speculate that it must have been due to lack of enough training. The airports need expansion. Places that were built for 10 planes now have 20 planes. That is congestion,” Adurogboye said
