NCAA: Despite Recent Crash, Nigeria’s Airspace’s Safe

Although Nigeria is known for its many air crashes but with the autonomy of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the certification of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) there has been marked improvement in air safety in Nigeria.


This was the kernel of the keynote address delivered on Monday at the Training Workshop on Aviation and Space Law of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos by the acting Director General of NCAA, Dr. Joyce Nkemakolam.

Nkemakolam noted that the resolution of safety concerns is the implementation of processes and procedures to resolve identified deficiencies impacting aviation safety, which may have been residing in the aviation system and have been detected by the regulatory authority.

This, according to him, would include the ability to analyse safety deficiencies; forward recommendations; support the resolution of identified deficiencies; as well as take enforcement action when appropriate.

He said the ICAO Universal Safety Audit, FAA Category1 Certification and ICAO Security Audit are some of the evaluations the Nigerian Aviation Industry had successfully undergone by strict compliance with the CE, noting that the primary responsibility for the conduct of safe flight operations rest on the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holder.

He added: “The Federal Government through the NCAA has put in place layers of processes to ensure that the AOC holder conducts its operation in line with extant civil aviation laws and regulations. Notwithstanding the spate of accidents that we have had in the past, especially Dana crash of the previous year, tremendous progress has been made in the area of safety. The safety reform agenda of the federal government, which was anchored on the recertification of the industry, infrastructural rehabilitation, fleet renewal and man power development, have successfully changed the course of aviation in Nigeria”.

Furthermore, he said the key benefit of the on-going recertification exercise in the industry has reduced the number of AOC holders from about 50 to 17, adding “It is also important to mention that between 2003 to date, some of the airlines on their own folded up their operations largely due to economic recession that had affected the industry globally and inability to comply with the heightened regulatory standards introduced by the Authority”.

“The confidence of the traveling public has been restored with the introduction of modern aircraft and equipment. The old DC9 series, Boeing 737-200 series, Boeing 727 and BAC 1-11 that populated our airspace have now been replaced with brand new Boeing 737-700 NG, new Bombardier CRJ 900 Series, Dash-8, 400Q. Operators in the oil and gas sectors are re-fleeting with new helicopters. Total investment in aircraft acquisition in the past six years is about $4.5 billion by Nigerian Operators. This does not include the new ones that have been ordered. For Instance, Arik has ordered for Dreamliner, Boeing 787,747-400 series and Airbus A380”, the acting DG noted.

He explained that the milestone was achieved due to the domestication and implementation of The Cape Town Convention by Nigeria, noting that the Federal Government has encouraged the industry by the removal of custom duties on Aircraft and equipment and remarked that the revolving grant which airlines can access is also a step in the right direction.

“Infrastructural development in our airports as part of the Honourable Minister of Aviation’s input into the transformation agenda is monumental. Replacement of obsolete communication equipment, improvement of navigational equipment and the completion of the Total Radar Project with ADS-B are all safety critical”, he stressed.

He said notwithstanding the tremendous improvement recorded in the area of safety, the Nigeria aviation industry has a number of challenges it is battling with, for instance inadequate funding. Nkemakolam observed that aviation is capital intensive; that huge amount of money is required for aviation infrastructural development and cited examples with other countries, saying that in the last four years Trinidad and Tobago spent $5 billion on infrastructural development; Pakistan spent $10 billion on aviation infrastructural development; Turkey spent $40 billion on infrastructural development and not to mention many other countries like India, China, Singapore, South Africa, Senegal and Ethiopia.

He continued: “We want to sincerely thank the Nigerian Government for the grant of N19.5 billion intervention fund. Every Nigerian who has passed through Heathrow’s Terminal 5 (T5) wants Nigerian airports to look the same. But the United Kingdom government spent about $10 billion to build Terminal 5 alone’’.

He said that another serious challenge to safety and development of Aviation is the ageing workforce. “We truly have acute shortage of skilled manpower both at the regulatory arm, airlines and service providers, pilots, engineers, Air Traffic Controllers among others which cannot be produced or cloned overnight. The demise of Nigeria Airways signalled the end of meaningful training in the country until the recent initiative of private airlines bringing in new aircraft.”

Nkemakolam expressed regret that the few trained personnel are migrating to greener pastures. “We have also been confronted with challenging attractions from the Middle East (Emirates), China, India who are dangling offers that are hard to refuse, which include, free housing, free education to children; tax free salaries, and fully paid leave emoluments twice a year”.

“Training, retraining and continuous training is the solution. We must be able to provide sponsorship for ab initio training in Zaria for pilots and maintenance engineers. Special training programmes for air traffic controllers, communication, navigation and surveillance engineers. All these require huge capital. Highly skilled, experienced and well trained personnel are the ICAO recipe for safe operations”, said the acting DG.

He added that sustainability and sustainable safety in the Nigeria aviation industry would involve the ability to endure and meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

“Nigerian airspace is safe! Our roads, the rail, and the water ways are not better alternatives. Aviation continues to be the fastest and the safest means of transportation. It is the catalyst that drives the economy. It has remained a veritable vehicle for economic and social development. This is why it is imperative for government to spend heavily to sustain and make the industry more viable and safer,” he said.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ncaa-despite-recent-crash-nigeria-8217-s-airspace-8217-s-safe/146604/
culled from Thisday Online