Aircraft age reduction does not guarantee air safety written by Wole Shadare (The Guardian)

THE recent proposal by the Federal Government to reduce aircraft age operating in the country to 15 years was one that was taken in panic.
Each time there is a crash; the first thing the Minister of Aviation does is to phase out airplanes considered as getriatric.
The government had, in the wake of Sosoliso, Bellview and ADC crashes in 2005 and 2006 barred aircraft that were 22 years old. They argued that age, rather than maintenance led to the crashes even when investigations were yet to be carried out.
What happened eventually? BAC 1-11, B727, DC 9, B737-300 and others were phased out and the operators lost considerable amount of money.
The reports however did not put the crashes to the age of airplanes, rather, it  blamed bad weather (wind shear) for both Sosoliso and ADC crashes, while the report of Bellview is yet to be made public.
The crash of Dana’s MD 83 aircraft in Iju Ishaga penultimate month equally forced government to take a very hasty decision to say invariably that the cause of the crash was as a result of old age. This is presumptuous, as the preliminary report of Accident Investigation Bureau did not say that the crash of the American built airplane was as a result of its age. Another bad policy coming from bad advisers if one may say.
Reduction of the age of aircraft fleet does not guarantee safety. Record shows that British Airways B777 on January 17, 2008, heading for London Heathrow Airport belly-landed on the airfield. The aircraft was six years old.
The same for Air France’s A330 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009 killing all onboard. The airplane was four years old.
Also, an Airbus 330 belonging to Afriqiyah crahed, killing all on board. The plane was 8 months old.
Same goes for Asiana Airlines that had its five year old aircraft crashed on July 28, 2011, killing all the passengers.
In Africa, Nigeria is the second largest country with an aircraft fleet above 15 years of age. While, Ethiopia, Morocco and Egypt appear to have smaller amount of aircraft above 15 years, the countries have also benefitted from strong national, flag carriers and government support. They also have significantly domestic traffic compared to Nigeria.
Currently, there are 26, 508 aircraft captured across the various continents with 59 per cent of aircraft above 15 years of age. Oceania tops the list with 82 per cent of its aircraft above 15 years.
While Oceania still tops the list of continents with aircraft above 15 years of age, North America ranks second within the list of FAA approved Category One countries.
In Asia, you have a number of oil and resource rich countries that have government backed fleet renewal programme for their national or flag carriers, with little or no domestic traffic.
In Europe, you have very strong fleet renewal support from aircraft manufacturers, there are incentives from the European Union and access to favourable financing terms from lessors, especially Western European countries.
In South America, most countries operate predominantly 15 years and older aircraft, with the exception of Brazil and Chile, both of which benefit from EOM and government backed national or flag carrier support.
It would be recalled that India lost its Category One aviation status with 89 per cent (355) of its aircraft below 15 years and 11 per cent (43) above 15 years.
The Ministry of Aviation should know that sustenance of Cat one is not based on the age of aircraft.
Accidents are not limited to older aircraft alone. Data shows no correlation between aircraft age and propensity for or predisposition to accidents.
Infact, more so called “never” aircraft (less than 20 years) have been involved in fatal crashes in the last five years than older aircraft (greater than 20 years).
With all the major fatal crashes that have occurred in the last five years globally, it is interesting to point out that none of the carriers have had their AOC suspended or revoked. Virtually, all are still operating and flying today with the exception of Spanair, due to bankruptcy.
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