Ending the Cycle of Mishaps

Business

Since early this year, the aviation industry has recorded many mishaps, a development, which calls for stricter regulation and review of standard operation procedures of airlines, writes Chinedu Eze

It was a moment of confusion for Nigerians in general and for the aviation industry stakeholders, in particular, on August 1, 2023, when the news of an aircraft (a Jabiru J430 single engine) crash at Oba Akran, Lagos was broken in the media. Luckily, the two persons on board survived. 

Shortly after, a United Nigeria Airlines Embraer ERJ145 suffered a runway excursion while landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA) in Lagos.

 The aircraft, bearing the registration 5N-BWW, was conducting a domestic flight between Abakaliki and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on May 31, 2023, when the incident happened.

 The Embraer ERJ145 aircraft carrying 50 passengers onboard made a landing at the Lagos runway 18L. The aircraft, during its landing, veered off the designated runway, resulting in a runway excursion. 

According to the airline, the aircraft landed safely but was “forced to terminate its movement to the apron.” 

On September 9, 2023, another incident happened when an aircraft, with registration number 5NBWY, belonging to the United Nigeria Airlines skidded off the runway at about 6:48 pm at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos while trying to land under a very heavy rainfall. 

 On November 14, a ValueJet CRJ 900 Bombardier aircraft slipped off the runway at the Port-Harcourt International Airport, causing momentary panic and chaos among passengers. The aircraft which landed at 15.32 hours with 62 passengers and five flight crew members, overshot the runway.

On Wednesday, November 22, 2023, there was panic when a Dana Airline flight taking off from Lagos to Abuja aborted take-off following a faulty engine, leaving many passengers stranded.

Passengers aboard the flight said they heard a loud explosion when the aircraft was about to take off, prompting the Pilot-in-Command to abort take-off.

One of the passengers said, “The Captain was trying to manage the situation but the report we had was that the plane lost its two engines. We had two explosions and the plane lost two engines. It was God that saved us, it would have been a big disaster.

“Up till now the plane cannot move, the passengers are stranded here. They are not making any effort, they are not moving. We have complained to the NCAA, they did not do anything.

“It happened around after 11 a.m. The flight 9J335 was scheduled for 10:15 am. Up till now, they have not done anything. They have not scheduled us, they are just keeping quiet. Nobody is talking to us, it is really a very pathetic case. We have made an official complaint to NCAA.”

Safety Breaches

 Also, on November 12, 2023, a flight operated by Aero Contractors Airlines from Lagos to Abuja had a runway excursion incident in the morning, causing the temporary closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The Boeing 737 aircraft with registration number 5N-BYQ slid off the runway while trying to exit via A4 and got its nose wheel stuck in the grass verge.

THISDAY learnt from inside sources that on landing, the pilot-in-command of the flight claimed to have lost the aircraft steering, and out of the four exits off the runway, two were under maintenance, while the first was where any aircraft that was about to take off enter the runway.

So, the pilot inevitably had to use the last exit from the runway to the taxiway, where the aircraft nose wheel got stuck. Flight NG 119 with a registered Boeing 737 aircraft 5N-BYQ from Lagos to Abuja had a total of 133 passengers on board.

 Diversion

 In the latest incident, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) suspended the wet-leased aircraft operated by United Nigeria Airlines pending the conclusion of an investigation into the diversion of a flight meant for Abuja to Asaba last Sunday.

NCAA had earlier directed United Nigeria Airlines to suspend the use of the aircraft, an Airbus leased from Europe-based Fly2Sky, until after the investigation.

 When the incident happened, the airline said in a statement that it temporarily diverted its flight NUA 0504 to Asaba due to poor destination weather. 

There were discrepancies in the explanations given as the cause of the diversion when Air Traffic Controllers countered this claim, insisting that there were favourable weather conditions in Abuja at the time of the diversion.

 After a post-incident meeting, the NCAA suspended the airline’s wet lease aircraft pending further investigation. However, there are indications that the NCAA may lift the suspension since the incident had no safety breach.

On November 3, 2023, there was a serious incident that happened at the Samuel Ladoke Akintola Airport, Ibadan, Oyo State, in which an aircraft not designated for charter service was involved in a charter operation and landed short off the runway in the night and crashed into the bush. The aircraft was severely damaged, but no life was lost.

 Laxity 

The Ibadan incident was an eye-opener into the lapses that are beginning to occur in flight regulation.

Two operators who spoke to THISDAY said two regulations were breached in this case: an aircraft that was meant for private service was used for charter service and it operated into an airport designated for Visual Flight Rule (VFR), that is Sunset Airport.

They stressed that this could be attributed to the lapses of the regulatory authority, noting that such breaches have become common in recent times.

“Ibadan is known as Daylight Airport. Surprisingly, the flight was allowed to leave Abuja to Ibadan at that time. That was a big risk. The aircraft does not have an Air Operator Certificate (AOC). It has PNCF. Using private aircraft to operate charter services is eroding the market. It means the industry is not properly regulated. Every aircraft should be monitored. 

“Also, the Visual Flight Rule at Ibadan airport was compromised. We operate charter services and pay a five per cent charge to NCAA. We also face stricter regulation in terms of maintenance to ensure that aircraft that operate charter services are safer. Those that have a permit as privately operated aircraft do not pay this five per cent charge and are not subjected to strong maintenance monitoring,” the operator who is into charter services, told THISDAY.

Another operator who is an executive of a scheduled commercial airline, told THISDAY on condition of anonymity that breaching the VFR at Ibadan airport was a compromise on safety and regretted that similar flight operations have been happening at that airport and others that have similar conditions.

“Although the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) is yet to publish its initial report on the incident; so, we cannot talk about what caused the incident but the flight had no business going there without navigational aids. Also, as a private aircraft, it should not have been allowed to operate charter service. That was a violation of standing regulation. The operator of that aircraft can be accused of tax evasion because airlines that operate charter services pay a five per cent tax to NCAA. A lot of things are happening these days. Last time, an airline that had not operated for one hour had its AOC renewed but airlines that that have operated for years face difficulty in renewing their AOC,” the operator said.

THISDAY learnt from an official who works at the airport in Ibadan that this was not the first time an aircraft was flying to the airport late. The official said many aircraft do so, and the airport management and the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) were notified to extend operation time until the aircraft arrived.

Thorough Assessment 

Reacting to the recent incident of flight diversion, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo ordered for thorough investigation and assessment of the incident.

He restated the concerns of several aviation stakeholders and the challenges faced by the sector regarding infrastructure, management, and navigational safety, among others.

Some industry stakeholders are of the view that the industry needs a total safety overhaul to avert any tragic incident in the future. They are of the view that these incidents are precursors to ominous events that may happen in the industry if pre-emptive actions are not taken.

Industry stakeholder and aviation security expert, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), told THISDAY: “There should be many concerns for us about our domestic commercial aviation sector which I believe need a thorough examination by the responsible authorities before AOC/AOL (airline licenses) are issued to them and when their operations begin, regular oversight and audits of earnings still by the same authorities. None of these are effectively done on the public and private operators to know their financial health.”

Nigeria can take a cue from the United States, which is currently undertaking a review of the safety status of the aviation industry, following a series of incidents. In the past in Nigeria, when such incidents began to occur, they became a harbinger of major accidents, but since 2013, Nigeria has enjoyed a good safety reputation of not recording any major accidents involving commercial airlines. 

It is the responsibility of the regulatory agency, NCAA, and the Ministry of Aviation to maintain that good record and improve on it.