Sunday, November 16, 2014

Why Nigeria’ll record more air crashes, by expert

Except the Federal Government provides a sustainable maintenance framework including domesticated maintenance hangar, Nigeria would record more air crashes, Dr Titus Kehinde Olaniyi, an engineer at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, has said.

Besides, the expert, who spoke at the meeting of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, noted that airlines’ negligence of industry best practice in aircraft operations and maintenance has contributed to several aircraft crashes and folding up of the airlines.

However, Olaniyi noted that managerial incompetence led to fund misappropriations, manpower mismanagement and high indebtedness of most of the airlines.

The expert observed that the lack of sustainable aircraft maintenance hangars has negatively impacted on Nigerian airlines and their ability to operate sustainably in an inherently complex and dynamic global air transport industry.

Olaniyi, who spoke on ‘Sustainable aircraft maintenance hangar: the imperative for the Nigerian aviation industry,’ explained that the systematic failure of the airline industry could be traced to unsustainable aircraft maintenance policies resulting from aging aircraft, lack of appropriate maintenance personnel, non-availability of aircraft hangars where proper checks or maintenance can be carried out.

He explained that inconsistent regulatory policies, deteriorating infrastructure with obsolete facilities, negligence and managerial incompetence contributed to the failure of most of the local airlines. The expert also noted that undefined government support had jeopardized actions by some airlines to build their hangars.

Olaniyi said that the provision for maintenance facility of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) was currently inadequate for the nation’s needs, tracing the demise of Okada airline to the exorbitant cost of tasks that could have been avoided.

The aviation engineer explained that having Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) in the country will save airline huge revenue spent abroad on aircraft maintenance and reduce capital flight Olaniyi, however, said that air transport in Nigeria is expected to grow by five per cent in the next 20 years, with increase in demands that will enable airlines contribute some $0.4 billion and 61,000 jobs for the emerging Nigerian economy. He noted that the air transport industry generates and supports 6.7 million jobs in Africa and contributes $67.8 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Olaniyi noted that the air transport in the country has been growing since mid-1980’s and 1990’s with deregulation and emergence of domestic airlines in GDP. He, however, regretted that despite the growth, the number of airlines in the country depreciated to the extent that most of the early starters no longer exist, adding that out of the 30 airlines operating in the 1990’s, only about seven scheduled flights in 2010.

The engineer stated that the demand for transport is a function of certain variables or characteristics, adding that some of the distinguishing characteristics of public transport under local conditions can be in respect of speed, passenger income, safety, comfort and reliability or service frequency.

Nigeria had in 2012 recorded the worst air disaster on June 3, 2012, when a Dana MD 83 aircraft crashed in Iju- Ishaga, a Lagos suburb, killing all 153 people on board and ten more on the ground.

The crash of Flight 992 was and is currently the deadliest aviation disaster involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, as well as the second-deadliest involving an MD- 80.

It is also the second-deadliest air disaster on Nigerian soil, behind the Kano air disaster of 1973. A year after that, precisely on October 3, 2013, Associated Airlines light aircraft crashed in Lagos. About 15 persons were killed.

Also, the aircraft conveying the remains of a former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu and others, including the crew, relatives, friends, government officials, came down shortly after take- off.

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), in his preliminary report, attributed the crash to pilot’s error and serviceability of the Embraer aircraft.


- Source: http://newtelegraphonline.com

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