NCAA Begins Audit of Max Air to Ensure It’s Safe to Fly Again

The Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has disclosed that the authority has dispatched its inspectors to Kano to audit Max Air operations, noting that the result of the audit would determine if the airline would resume flight operations.

Captain Musa made this known yesterday when he had Zoom meeting with Aviation Correspondents.

He said that Azman Air’s two Boeing B737 aircraft were grounded because one had water in its tank, while the other had technical problems and they would only be allowed to go back to service if they are found airworthy after the audit.

“NCAA staff just left for Kano to audit Max Air airline. They will inspect their operations to know when they will resume operations. So, we cannot give the time they will resume until after the audit,” he said.

This is coming as the Chairman and CEO of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, urged NCAA to be more vigilant, stressing that the regulatory authority issues licences to oil marketers, inspects their facilities and approves their sale of aviation fuel to airlines.

The Director General also said the NCAA would close the aviation fuel marketing company which sells contaminated fuel to airlines, stating that the regulatory body was already investigating the airlines that bought fuel from the company that sold contaminated fuel to Azman Air.

Explaining further on why Azman Air aircraft were grounded, Nuhu said that investigation already carried out disclosed that the aircraft in question took fuel from Kano, Abuja and Lagos and NCAA is investigating where the water came from and tracing the source of the bowser to pumps and storage facilities.

“When we find out, we are going to suspend the marketing companies. We will collaborate with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure it does not happen again. We want to make sure that the marketers meet our regulations to supply their products to the airlines,” Nuhu said.

He said that it is the responsibility of the flight crew to inspect the fuel that is taken by the aircraft to make sure that it is not contaminated, so the flight crew and airline are held responsible if such case arises.

“We are going to issue a notice to airlines to ensure that flight crew inspects their fueling and if after investigating we found out that Max Air was responsible, we will take appropriate action. NCAA inspects the facilities of the oil marketing companies but we don’t have the staff that will go to every airline to inspect their fueling. Do you know how many aircraft are fueled every day in Lagos?” he said.

The NCAA Director General also said that the authority carries out audits of airlines regularly; that it just concluded the financial audit of domestic carriers.

On frequent flight delays in Nigeria’s domestic airline operations, the Director General said that when recording the number of flight delays by airlines it is good to also indicate what contributes to the flight delays.

“I agree with airline operators that there is need to know the cause of the delays. Next time we will include the causes of the delays in our report,” he said.

Meanwhile, while fielding questions from journalists in Lagos yesterday, Professor Okonkwo stated that the NCAA should be more vigilant with the operations of fuel marketers in the sector in order to prevent supply of contaminated products to airline operators.

According to Okonkwo, the NCAA has taken the right step to investigate the source of the contaminated aviation fuel involving Max Air’s Boeing 737-300 aircraft of July 7, 2023.

Okonkwo, who is also the spokesman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), stated that there are certain measures taken by fuelers and airlines before fuel is dispensed into the tank of aircraft, saying such steps should be adhered to strictly by all operators.

He also called on the NCAA to carry out a pseudo audit of the fuel marketers in order to ensure total compliance with industry standards.

He lauded the current management of NCAA, led by Captain Musa Nuhu, saying that the apex regulatory body in the sector had lived up to expectations so far.

He said: “The plan to investigate the fuel marketers is a confirmation of all that I have been saying all along that we have an active and vibrant NCAA, which guarantees safety of the air passengers. It can only take a vigilant regulator to observe when there is a problem and if they have gone as far as identifying with the supplier of bad fuel, we are happy with that development.

“As for Max Air, there is nothing absolutely to worry about. It can happen to any airline anytime. If there are questions from NCAA, it is left for them to give answers to the agency, which I’m sure they will do. The NCAA that we have now as led by Capt. Nuhu is one of the best in the world.”

On the statement by the NCAA that airlines and pilots are responsible for the quality of fuel dispensing in their aircraft tanks, Okonkwo said that this was for the interest of the airlines and the flying public.

He said that this would make the operators more responsible for their responsibilities of ensuring safety and strict adherence to Standard Operational Procedures (SOP).

He, however, appealed to NCAA to put in place more acceptable audits on the fuel suppliers, stressing that the airline operators had consistently canvassed this position.

On the planned palliative by the federal government, Okonkwo said that the government should encourage the creation of wealth by empowering businesses, which will create jobs than giving palliative to poor Nigerians which will not make much impact.

He suggested that if the government could give the airline operators about N250 billion for instance as a soft loan, it would go a long way in boosting the economy.

He also called for transparency in the disbursement of the planned loans to the beneficiaries.

“If the federal government can set aside about N250 billion as soft loans, not grant or free money to the aviation sector, what it means is that there will be more aircraft, which can be deployed to some of the new routes. It can also energise and capitalise us going to the international routes.

“The outcome is that there will be more people employed, revenue generation by the airlines and the government will make more money. Flying overseas will bring about foreign exchange earnings and it will reduce the pressure. By and large, it will help people who don’t have jobs.

“My take is that as the government is giving out the money, they should also give the resources to strengthen the economic and business private owners. Anybody who has a job, has a greater tomorrow, palliatives can come and go. The N8,000 for a family for a month will not take more than two days and N500 billion is gone. We need to grow the economy, create wealth and ensure people are well-paid,” he said.