August 09, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has assured that the agency will not compromise in the enforcement of safety standards, regulatory requirements and SARPs in conformity with all regulatory requirements and ICAO’s Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in the initial issuance and renewal of all Air Operators Certificate (AOC) irrespective of the personality and organisation involved.
Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, gave the assurance during a chat with THEWILL at the weekend.
Nuhu was responding to a purported interview by the Chief Operating Officer of Tropical Arctic Logistics (TAL), Mr. Femi Adeniji, during which he made several allegations and accusations against NACA.
On the matter of non-renewal of TAL’s AOC, the NCAA helmsman categorically stated that firm fell short of the requirements for the renewal of its AOC as it currently does not have three out of four key nominated post holders.
The missing key personnel include: Director of Maintenance, Director of Flight Operations and Chief Pilot.
In addition the operator is yet to comply with COVID-19 Industry Restart Program like all other industry players did before receiving approval to resume operations.
TAL’s AOC will be renewed when these requirements have been satisfactorily met.
The DG further stated that the five-Phase AOC process (both initial and renewal) is not peculiar to Nigeria as it is an ICAO requirement (ICAO Annex 6 Parts I and III and ICAO Document 8335), which is captured in Nig.CARS 2015 Part 9 on AOC Certification.
These strict regulations are to ensure only qualified applicants are granted AOC, the main reason Nigeria attained FAA IASA Category 1 in the first instance.
Nig.CARS 2015 were established with the participation and consultation of all industry stakeholders and must be complied with to the full extent until such a time there is a review of the regulations.
This is the reason for the name Nigerian Civil Regulations (Nig.CARS) rather than NCAA Regulations.
The NCAA boss further stated that manufacturers’ recommendations, as alluded to by TAL’s Chief Operating Officer are just “recommendations, which can neither override nor replace regulations based on ICAO SARPS and Annexes. No manufacturer has the authority to issue an extension approval without the knowledge and approval of Civil Aviation Authorities, which are ultimately responsible for the safety of flight operations. Extensions are the prerogative of CAAs period.”
During a Certificate of Airworthiness Inspection of the operator’s AW139 Helicopter with registration 5N-BVQ in June 2020, it was discovered that machine was being operated with a component (Tank Foam) that was overdue for replacement. A review of the records showed that the OEM, Leonardo Helicopters had supplied TAL with all replacements KITS and advised the operator to contact NCAA for extension. NCAA was neither contacted for an extension nor the Tank Foam was replaced. An enforcement action was taken by the issuance of a Letter of Investigation (LOI) and the requirement of compliance with OEM’s recommendations. The maintenance repairs and replacement of the tank Foam was performed by Aero Contractors and some serious defects were identified and fixed.
According to Captain Musa Nuhu, contrary to the insinuation that NCAA personnel trained at the Ukraine University neither had industry experience nor the competence to effectively perform their duties, he gave examples of two prominent Nigerians amongst several others who had trained in Ukraine and performed creditably well beyond all expectations.
He cited Dr. O.B. Aliu and Dr. Harold Demuren, two globally-recognised and respected personalities for their antecedents and whose records speak for themselves.
These two global aviation Ambassadors from Nigeria served in NCAA as Director and Director General, the platform for their successful future endeavours.
Dr. OB Aliu served as two-term President of the Council ICAO the apex global civil aviation body, a period unprecedented in safety improvement and growth of the global aviation with the introduction of global and regional programmes such as “No Country Left Behind Initiative” and “AFI Plan” amongst several others.
In addition all inspectors, irrespective of their prior qualifications or experience must undergo comprehensive training programmes under the Inspector Training System (ITS).
This includes five mandatory courses, appropriate specialised courses and On-The-Job-Training.
The DG expressed exasperation at the insinuation of corruption in the system.
He said: “If Mr. Adeniji has any evidence of either corruption or any corrupt practices he should file a complaint with relevant authorities for investigations and follow-up actions rather than casting questionable doubts in the public fora on the credibility of the authority. It is also sad the COO of TAL took it upon himself to illegally record the official discussion with an NCAA staff for reasons best known to him, this matter was resolved at a police station with Mr. Adeniji giving an unreserved apology.”
However, Captain Musa Nuhu did accept that NCAA was not a perfect entity and had its own peculiar challenges and difficulties like all organisations.
One major challenge is that of manual processes in the authority that can be cumbersome, inefficient and difficult.
The NCAA helmsman extended his hand of friendship to all industry players for the benefit of the nation and stressed that NCAA was a partner in progress rather than the proverbial industry policeman.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
