Tag: NCAA

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is in the eye of the storm as audit of its operation begins.

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has sent a team of airworthiness and related experts to Nigeria to re-validate the Category One Safety rating it awarded the country in August 2010.

The team according to investigation, has begun to audit how NCAA discharges its oversight duties on airlines, airport authorities, ground handling companies, among others, in the country.

The FAA team is visiting Nigeria for the second time seven years after it awarded the country the safety rating.

Nigeria is among a few countries in Africa that have category one safety rating . Others include Egypt, South Africa, Cape Verde, Morocco and Ethiopia.

Category One safety rating, according to the spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye,  confers on countries the highest level of civil aviation regulation. He said the rating is a confirmation that such countries are complying with global aviation regulations as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The rating, he said,  grants access to countries  to fly directly with their registered aircraft into the United States.

Investigations revealed that the visit of the FAA team is sequel to complaints about the quality of oversight duties discharged by the NCAA.

Nigeria’s inclusion in the elite club of civil aviation nations is facing a litmus test as the FAA team subjects  the country’s civil aviation regulation to another round of audit this week.

Will Nigeria scale through the  on going re-validation audit?

 

FAA team members

 

According investigations, the FAA team comprises operations, airworthiness and legal specialists led by Louis Alvarez. Others are Benjamin Garrido and Jeffrey Klang.

 

Objective of audit

 

Though complaints are mounting among operators and industry watchers over alleged sloppy discharge of oversight duties, the NCAA said it is ready for the audit.

Speaking in a recent interview in Lagos, Adurogboye said the NCAA had been communicated by the FAA on grey areas it would want the authority to address.

The NCAA official said the objective of the audit will include assessment and level of compliance of Nigeria with international regulations as it affects general aviation policy, procedure, aircraft maintenance organisation  and flight operations.

He said the team will utilise the checklist approved  for International Aviation Safety Assessment ( IASA) already mailed to NCAA.

Adurogboye said the checklist contains questions the NCAA is supposed to provide answers to.

He said : “The mission of FAA is to assess the states’ aviation law, regulations and oversight capability in accordance with the eight critical elements as defined in ICAO document 9734.”

 

FAA checklist for NCAA

 

The NCAA spokesman said the authority has already received a checklist on the critical elements to be examined by the FAA team.

He said the team will examine steps taken by the NCAA to comply with ICAO regulations on aviation legislation, civil aviation regulation; technical guidance tools; technical staff; quality of training; licensing certification and approvals; continuos surveillance and resolution of safety concerns .

Some industry watchers, however, are skeptical about how NCAA will navigate its way through these critical elements on account of discontent among its personnel on the  quality of training and re-retraining in the authority.

Some operators had complained about inadequate technical personnel on the areas of airworthiness and aircraft inspection.

They repeatedly lamented that the NCAA lacks requisite capacity in aircraft inspection as the authority is yet to have rated inspectors on some aircraft types.

 

Airline for audit

 

Unlike in 2014 when the FAA carried out the last re-validation audit, Arik Air was used as the airline for audit.

The airline was chosen then because of its adherence to international operational safety standards. But the paradigm has shifted this year as NCAA said the FAA team will be visiting Medview Airlines as the carrier for the audit .

Adurogboye said: “The FAA team will visit the maintenance organisation of Medview Airlines and any other necessary airline operator. The director-general  has, therefore, activated the standing audit team and they have swung into action.  Meetings are being held in readiness for the exercise.”

 

Controversies

 

Some industry players have, however, cautioned NCAA over the use of airlines as reference operator for the FAA audit.

They hinged their fear on recent controversies involving Medview Airlines and one of its aircraft blacklisted by the European Commission.

They blamed NCAA for shoddy oversight duties on the airline.

An industry expert who pleaded not be named said: “The recent blacklisting of Medview Airlines aircraft by the European Commission was a slap on the oversight duties of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

“If the authority had discharged its duties creditably it wouldn’t get to that level. I think the authority has to wake up to its oversight duties before embarrassing Nigeria in the global arena.”

Earlier this year, Executive Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Captain Nogie Meggison had sought the audit of the NCAA over some infractions bordering on its duties.

Meggison said the regulatory authority needed to be overhauled to keep it at speed with global standards.

Speaking in an interview, a pilot, Makanjuola Owolabi, accused the NCAA of lapse in its oversight duties.

He warned that unless NCAA alter the regulatory stakes in its approach to safety, things could go wrong .

He said NCAA should raise the bar in the training of technical personnel.

 

Experts verdict on NCAA

 

Experts say the NCAA should extricate itself from undue ministerial interference in the discharge of its oversight duties if it must be taken seriously in global quarters.

Speaking in a recent interview, President, Aviation Safety Roundtable (ART), Gbenga Olowo said the role played by the NCAA during the closure and reopening of Abuja Airport did not reflect its superintending role in the sector.

Olowo said the NCAA allowed the Ministry of Aviation to hijack its oversight role in the certification and audit of airports.

He said: “The Abuja Airport runway problem earlier in the year  happened because  NCAA that is responsible for conducting safety oversight of the sector was docile and failed in ensuring the relevant agencies complied with runway maintenance programme as an operational safety requirement.

“This lethargic oversight of NCAA has contributed in bringing the industry to the situation it is today. To say the least, this NCAA is spineless.”

Though, NCAA claims it is carrying out proper audit of domestic carriers, investigation reveals that an airline operates a lone aircraft in its fleet.

Commenting on the development, an aviation security expert, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), accused  NCAA of being passive in ensuring operators comply with necessary provisions of economic regulation.

Former President, Aviation Roundtable, Captain Dele Ore, corroborated Ojikutu’s position, saying that NCAA needs to step up its oversight duties.

According to Ore, the quality of civil aviation regulations is what stands a country out.

 

Optimism over exercise

 

The Director-General of NCAA, Captain Mukthar Usman, said he is optimistic the authority will pull through the re-validation audit because of the four agenda it embarked on this year.

Speaking in an interview in Lagos, Usman said the authority has  pursued sustainability of zero accident in the sector.

He said the authority has been reviewing and strengthening its economic regulation oversight as well as improvement in consumer protection and continuous prioritisation of training.

Twenty-seven would-be carriers are accusing the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of double standards in processing their applications for Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC). Without the AOC, no airline can operate scheduled flights. To the 27 intending carriers, getting the AOC is like the proverbial camel passing through the needle’s eye. KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR reports.

There is discontent in the aviation sector over the procedure and requirements for securing an Air Operators’ Certificate (AOC) by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

This document distinguishes a scheduled flight operator from others who acquire aircraft for private use.

An AOC holder, according to regulatory categorisation, is an airline licensed for business in the public transport category.

Over the years, the AOC’s issuance has always pitted operators against the NCAA, which insists that statutory requirements must be complied with. AOC’s issuance  to any airline, according to experts, involves series of stages, otherwise tagged as hurdles by airlines. In fact, many airlines have not been able to scale the hurdles despite claims that they have the required documents, manuals, personnel and equpiment matching their proposed scale of operations.

Investigations revealed that 27 intending carriers have pulled out from the AOC’s process over alleged infractions by the regulator’s personnel, who, it has been alleged, have made the process difficult and unfriendly.

According to experts, an application for AOC will undergo five stages before issuance or  certification by the NCCA. Investigations revealed that the alleged  tough conditions may have stalled the  process for the 27 airlines. The airlines are Jet Support Services; Air First; Air Taraba; Air Jupiter; Continental Aerospace; Jet Leasing Support; Quorum Aviation;  Mayatta Enginerring Services; Toucan Airlines; New Okada Air; Fye Air Shuttle;  Tropical Arctie; Xejet; Revillo and Glory Airlines.

Others are Dominion Air Limited; Mounthill Aviation Resources Limited; Air Stream Aviation; Baltic Airlines; Millenium Travels and Tours; New Okada Air; Onedot Aviation and Oriental Airlines. There are others like Prime Air Services;  1060 Airways; Private Airline Services and Trebet Aviation Aerospace Nigeria Limited.

The Nation findings revealed that while Jet Support Services and Air First, which started their AOC precesses in 2015, got to stage two, this year, their promoters had to stop the process when it became clear that they were not making any progress.

Others such as Air Taraba, Air Jupiter, Continental Aerospace, Jet Leasing Support, Quorum Aviation, Trpical Arctie,  Xejet and Revillo that got to stage three also got stalled  in the process.

It was gathered that Glory Airlines, Dominion, Mounthill did not go beyond phase one before they got stalled.

An industry source said airlines that are in the exploratory phase of the AOC, are:  Air Stream Aviation; Baltic Airlines; Millenium Travels and Tours; New Okada Air; Onedot Aviation; Oriental Airlines; Prime Air Services; Private Airline Services and  Trebet Aviation Aerospace Nigeria Limited.

Since 2005, the NCAA, it was learnt, introduced stiffer requirements for prospective operators.

Although Nigeria is a signatory to many conventions and annexes of the International Civil Aviation Organisation( ICAO), AOC’s issuance procedures, requirements and processes differ from country to country. The reason for this is that the scale of operations of airlines, type of aircraft, conditions of lease of operating aircraft and the airline in question play a big role in application’s determination by the regulatory body.

Aside preparing operations manuals, acquiring aircraft, recruiting staff and the attendant training they have to undergo, the NCAA has consistently stood its grounds on following the due process.

The alleged NCAA’s hard stance, investigations revealed, is to avoid any under-hand dealings by operators, who are desperate to acquire the certificate, by allegedly cooking the technical books and manuals to escape the regulator’s  inspectors and engineers’ in ensuring the airworthiness of all aircraft type.

But, the NCAA’s spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, said insunations of infractions by the authority’s personnel or double standards in the issuance of AOC was a matter for industry education.

He said it was laughable when those who do not know allege that airlines borrow aircraft to deceive the NCAA into issuing them AOC licence. Such, according to him, is not possible.

“For the purposes of clarification, Omniblu Aviation Limited got its AOC certification in 2015 ,as at today, Omniblu has five helicopters and three aeroplanes on its AOC – HS123-850XP (5N-SPL); Challenger 604 (N880ET); and Boeing 737 Freighter (5N-IZB) For Helicopters, Omni Blu Aviation has, Two Agusta Westland 139 (5N-BTR) and (5N-BQB),  Two Bell 4125 (D-HIPP), (D-HAFW) and One Bell 212 (D-HBZT),” he said, referencing the NCCA Document and Omniblu Operational Specification.

He continued:“There are five processes for granting of AOC to any interested persons. The requirements are pre-application phase. This entails initial enquiry or request about NCAA’s certification; obtaining of CAR and advisory; provision of forms to prospective applicants’ NCAA receives and review PASI for acceptance and completeness.

“The next stage is document compliance phase, which involves certification team reviewing applicant’s documents for compliance acceptance/approval. This also includes formal application, letter of compliance, training and acceptance.

“The others are called Demonstration and Inspection Phase, which involves evaluation by certification team and applicant’s demonstration of compliance’ evaluation of management effectiveness, inspection of station(s) facilities, flight operations, maintenance and records.”

Adurogboye added: “The next is called certification phase, which allows the intending operator for approval of AOC and OpSpec with co-ordination with Director for Safety Oversight and DG NCAA. Such a new operator is expected to close different phases set out by the industry policeman, the NCAA, which could take up to two years or more before being issued an AOC.”

According to him, an intending operator is expected to have sufficient personnel with the required experience for the type of operations in view, airworthy aircraft suitable for the type of operations requested, acceptable systems for the training of crew and the operation of the aircraft (Operations Manual).

Also, an intending operator is expected to have a quality system to ensure that all regulations are followed. An operator must also ensure appointment of key accountable staff, who are responsible for specific safety critical functions such as training, maintenance and operations.

He said: “Besides, there should be carriers liability insurance (for airlines); operators are to have sufficient insurance to cover the injury or death of any passenger, proof that the operator has sufficient finances to fund the operation, and should have sufficient ground infrastructure, or arrangements for the supply of infrastructure to support its operations into the ports requested.

“For Nigeria, the NCAA included a minimum of 50 hours demonstration flights for intending operator. An intending operator  is expected to fly empty with full crew members and the NCAA inspectors for a minimum of 50 hours.

“The NCAA argued that the essence of the 50 hours demonstration flight is to ensure that the applicant could carry out scheduled operations with all the safety standards without compromise.”

Medview Airlines Managing Director, Muneer Bankole said: “First and foremost, I want to commend the NCAA and the Director-General, who, probably in his own wisdom, decided to enforce the compliance. It is a good thing for this nation and the industry.

“Demonstration flight, we will not condemn it, it is the best because you don’t carry commercial passengers when you are not sure that your aircraft is safe for flying. In the case of Med-View, the NCAA insisted that we must fly 50 hours and in the process of acquiring the certificate, we flew 50 hours, 35 minutes and it’s on record that we gave them 7 hrs 39 minutes extra. If anybody is talking about flying compliance, I should be able to say that I’m complaint. I’m very proud of this, there were no cutting of corners, we went for it and we earned it,” he said.