Air crashes in Nigeria have been unduly attributed to bad weather and mechanical faults, with less emphasis on the human factor of pilot error. The federal government has taken weather issues so seriously that it has invested much in the provision of weather equipment lately.
The human factors of negligence and errors on the part of operators and pilots have often been treated with kid gloves with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) lacking in requisite regulation to keep operators on their toes.
The issue of mechanical fault of aircraft and pilot errors were in the fore in the crashes involving ADC Flight 53 of October 2006 and Sosoliso Flight 1145 of 2005, though low level wind shear may have also contributed to the ADC crash.
But Dana Air Flight 0992 crash on June 3, 2012 and that of Associated Aviation which occurred on October 3, 2013 were chiefly attributed to bad equipment and pilot error.
The two accidents were caused by engine failure and while the later was obviously not air worthy before it took off in Lagos and crashed seconds after; the former is still subjected to debate whether its Minimum Equipment List established it as air worthy before it embarked on the flight from Abuja to Lagos.
There are issues that are worthy of note about the two crashes in 2012 and 2013. Insiders and aircraft engineers attributed the two accidents to the incompetence of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
This is their argument. During investigations on the Associated Aviation air crash, it was obvious that the aircraft had not flown for at least 45 days. It is a failure of NCAA to have allowed an aircraft that was not maintained or operated for that number of days to go into service.
Also when the accident happened, the then Directed General of NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu said that it is the responsibility of the airline to ensure the air worthiness of its aircraft.
But other industry observers and even operators posit that the regulatory body must effectively monitor the activities of the airlines, check their logbooks and monitor their maintenance schedules because most airlines across the world like to cut corners.
Less than 10 days before the Dana Air Flight 0992 crashed, an aircraft inspector had grounded the fleet of the airline with documentation that the aircraft were not air worthy. But the then management of NCAA overruled the decision of the inspector and let go the fleet to resume operation. Few days later the tragic crash took place, and Nigeria lost 153 souls on board.
It could be noted that when the grounding of the airline was lifted six months later and it resumed operation, the aircraft in the fleet started having engine hiccups again. There were records of two engine failures; the last one happened on the Port Harcourt to Lagos flight leading to the grounding of the airline’s operations.
By this time NCAA was unable to identify the recurrent engine problems of the airline until during the last inspection of the aircraft engines when it was realized that the engineers working on the engines were not competent enough and NCAA directed that Dana Air should change the engineers.
So today Dana Air is the only domestic carrier that has successfully undergone an operational audit conducted by NCAA in conjunction with its foreign partners The Flight Safety Group. But it ought to be noted also that if the airline were not grounded the last time, those engine failures could have continued and possibly lead to another crash. And NCAA would have been held responsible.
The Problem with NCAA
The problem of NCAA is what many Nigerians refer to as internal politics; ego flexing and clash of interests. There is a lot of ethnic dichotomy and struggle for supremacy and even after these accidents and change of leaderships, it has not abated.
Many observers in the industry believe that it is what would lead to another tragic air crash because the internal struggle in many ways impugn on the regulation of airlines.
This example will suffice. Recently an aircraft inspector in NCAA, Zakari Maude was transferred to Kaduna and he kicked. Many in the agency described the transfer as punitive measure and because he was from the north the management decided to throw him out of Lagos.
Inside source also alleged that his transfer had to do with his views about the plan to issue Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to a new airline which he objected because the airline was yet to meet the five critical processes before it be issues AOC.
Such bickering and rancour impede the activities of NCAA because as each person fights another the job of regulation is left undone. In fact, the acting Director General of NCAA, Benjamin Adeyileka in a telephone interview with THISDAY admitted that NCAA is rotten; that the authority needs to be revamped urgently.
He said that inspectors collect money from airline operators and look the other way when they compromise their safety regulations.
This is another example; a Nigerian pilot that was certified by NCAA aero medics to have eye problems and was subsequently stopped from flying took NCAA to court sometime in 2007, requesting that his license be restored.
NCAA won the case in court, but it was alleged that because the pilot is a member of National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and has influences, officials of the regulatory body are trying to reverse that decision.
Adeyileka told THISDAY that he would find out if there was a conspiracy about the case; that he was treating the case now and that if the pilot was fit to fly, he would be allowed to fly; but if not, he would never be issued licence to fly.
THISDAY learnt that the head of aero medics had refused to reverse it and insisted that she must give the pilot three tests which if he passed he would regain his certificate to fly.
Over Bloated Workforce
NCAA management is alleged to employ “through the back door”; that every new Director General that comes wants to employ “his own people”, but Adeyileka denied this allegation and said that the existing employment process was the one he inherited.
THISDAY also learnt that the members of the National Assembly on regular basis send their relations and others to be employed by NCAA. Also government’s anti-crime agency recently was alleged to have brought 50 persons to NCAA to be employed so that it could stop the investigation on the armoured cars, which saga and controversy dominated the media for major part of last year.
Presently NCAA has over bloated workforce, which increased from 550 workers to 1,250 within a short period of time.
Dwindling Fortunes
Ironically the number of workers is increasing at a period the agency is witnessing dwindling revenue. During the period between 2007 to 2010, there were more than 20 scheduled domestic commercial airlines but this number has reduced to six that could be described as financially viable which include Arik Air, MedView, Aero, Dana Air, First Nation and Overland Airways.
Inside source said domestic carriers have almost stopped paying the compulsory Passenger Service Charge (PSC) to the regulatory body; that most airlines are indebted to the agency, and these charges are really not the airlines’; they are monies added for the agency on the ticket fare of the airlines.
Ordinarily, airlines should not be computing the funds as part of their revenue, but literally their itching hands cannot get away from the money and because they do not deduct it at source they find it difficult to pay NCAA later. Domestic carriers are said to owe the regulatory over N200 million. So NCAA relies on revenues from international airlines to sustain its operations.
The implication of the dwindling fortunes means that workers are denied their allowances and there may be no enough money for training, which is the bedrock of the NCAA. In fact, THISDAY gathered that workers who went for training since 2012 are still owed their duty travel allowance and these debts are still piling till date.
Urgent Action
Infighting, ego flexing and corruption have stymied the regulatory body and unless something is done urgently the failure of the agency as regulatory body will become discernible.
For the fact that the inspectors and others in the agency allegedly collect bribes from operators it is obvious that it cannot strictly enforce regulations against the airlines. Perhaps this is the reason why NCAA reluctantly punished airlines when they abuse passengers and cancel flights with impunity.
On the transfer of Maude to Kaduna, Adeyileka said that he was not the only one that was transferred from Lagos; that there are airline operators in Kaduna and Kano so NCAA had to deploy inspectors to these cities, instead of allowing all of them to stay at the headquarters in Lagos.
“After training the inspectors we send them to out stations. All the people who were transferred came from Lagos. I am even planning to promote one general manager and transfer him to Kaduna because we have airlines in Kaduna,” Adeyileka explained.
He also explained that although he is the Director of Air Worthiness, no single person can issue AOC, which has to pass through many procedures before it is recommended that it be issued, adding that the concerned airline has not been issues AOC.
Adeyileka described NCAA as a disjointed place that needs urgent improvement and that is what he was set out to do, adding that inevitably he had to step on toes in the effort to cleanse the agency of the existing rot.
“There is a lot of rot in the industry. Some of these people who are complaining take money from the operators. We cannot prove it; we don’t have evidence but we know that they receive money from the operators.
"Some of them have turned themselves to tin gods. There is no smoke without fire. When Maude was transferred those under him were jubilant. I have taken it as my duty to revamp the agency and they have reported me even to the Presidency.”
The acting Director General said the allegations were a distraction that the major challenge facing NCAA now is facing US Category One safety status reassessment.
“People have to do the job they are paid for. Lazy people will hate my guts forever. People are complaining because there are those that are there who are not supposed to be in the industry.
"Sometimes files will disappear and no one will take responsibility. The Presidency is aware of my case. I have been accused of intimidating people. I want to sanitize NCAA; the operators are not happy with us,” Adeyileka said.
Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com
