NCAA Has Capacity to Sustain Safe Flight Operations in Nigeria, Says DG

Chinedu Eze

The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu,  has said that the regulatory authority has the capacity of sustaining safe flight operations in Nigeria.

Nuhu attributed the good safety record in the last 10 years to the efficient oversight of the authority.

Speaking with aviation journalists in Lagos at the weekend, the Director General assured that the regulatory agency would continue the implementation of its statutory responsibilities and duties to retain the confidence of the flying public.

Nuhu stated that investigations were still ongoing into the operations of the suspended Dana Air, insisting that the airline would remain grounded until all the identified issues have been resolved in compliance with Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs).

He explained that NCAA had carried out a Financial and Economic Health Audit in addition to Technical Safety Audit of the airline, disclosing that the outcome of the two audits revealed a weak financial position and grave violations of Nig.CARs which prompted the immediate suspension of the airline’s Air Transport License (ATL) and Air Operators Certificate (AOC).

However, he expressed dismay at some negative comments on the regulatory body in some social media platforms based on interview that took place on a television network.

He observed that almost the entirety of the comments during the interview were direct quotes of NCAA findings of the two audits.

“The details of these investigations and proactive action showed the professionalism of the apex regulatory agency. So I encourage industry experts to seek clarification from the authority in order to make informed and balanced comments. NCAA is open to informed criticisms geared towards improving the industry,” he said.

Nuhu said the detailed report of the two audits on Dana Air showed the determination of the Authority’s staff in ensuring that the safety and security of flights is foremost and overrides all other considerations.

Reacting to the reports on its suspension, Dana Air in a statement said it is in full support of NCAA’s efforts to sanitise the industry and as a responsible corporate citizen, Dana Air is not only cooperating fully with the NCAA on all the recommendations, but working towards resuming very soon and very confident of the end result.

“We agree that there were some lapses in terms of documentation as reviewed by the NCAA and necessary corrective measures have been implemented and sanctions meted out. Note that this did not in any way jeopardise our passengers or safety standards. Before the suspension, plans were in top gear to add more B737 aircraft to our fleet as short term plan to salvage the situation with the rising cost of operations and the Jet A1 issues in particular and this plan remains intact while our long term plan is to invest in more fuel efficient aircraft types to forestall the predicament the domestic airlines are grappling with due to the unexpected and sudden rise from about N300 to almost N1,000 at the moment.

“We have also made some appointments in the areas of flight operations, quality and maintenance to further strengthen the teams to acceptable regulatory standards,” the airline said.

It also explained that operational, financial, forex, infrastructural, Jet A1 challenges are not peculiar to Dana Air alone, noting that domestic airlines under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) have made huge efforts to bring this to the fore and appeal to passengers to accept the attendant but undesirable increase in air fares occasioned by the rising cost of operations

“Despite the huge and unresolved operational challenges that domestic airlines continue to grapple with, Dana Air will never endanger the lives of its passengers. Rather than cut corners, we would rather scale down our operations. This is our commitment,” the airline said.

The NCAA had in July suspended the operations of Dana Air’s Transport License (ATL) and Air Operator Certificate (AOC) indefinitely because of the outcome of a Financial and Economic Health Audit and a Technical Safety Audit carried out on the airline’s flight operations.

According to NCAA, the airline was no longer in a position to meet its financial obligations and to conduct safe flight operations, adding that its action was made pursuant to Section 35(2), 3(b) and (4) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3(a)(1) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs), 2015.