Industry Experts Set To Improve Air Safety

Harold Demuren, director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to improving safety in the aviation industry, noting that the concept of deregulation, which affects all sectors of the economy, has not made any inroad into the aviation sector.
Demuren who stated this recently against the background of the facts that it appears the regulatory oversight carried out by the NCAA may have gone on recess, said that NCAA would not hesitate to ground any airline operator that violates internationally prescribed safety rules and regulations.
Speaking at the corporate headquarters of the NCAA in Ikeja, he explained that the regulatory authority had been working with other agencies to ensure that safety as it concerns all aspect of the industry is not compromised.
He further explained that the authority has embarked on massive training and re-training programmes to keep its personnel abreast with what is obtainable in other parts of the world.
He said it is one of such safety measures that made the NCAA to, in the beginning of the rainy season, roll out new operational procedures for airlines and other players in the industry.
Demuren said: "The onset of the rainy season is usually characterized by severe thunderstorms with its attendant turbulence, micro-busts and low wind shear.
Such weather conditions are known to be deadly for aircraft on approach or departure from the airport and have been responsible for many fatal aircraft accidents in the world and in the country.
"As we enter the rainy season, the aim of this directive is to reiterate the need for pilots to exercise restraint when adverse weather is observed and be patient enough to wait and allow it subdue or pass over the air field before commencing the flight.
"It is mandatory for pilots to obtain weather briefing from the Nigerian Metereological Services (NIMET), including departure, en route and destination weather information prior to flight operations."
Also speaking, Anthony Anoforom, director-general of NIMET, explained that government considers the issue of safety so critical that it has embarked on acquisition of weather radar doppler to boost safety, affirming that some of the equipment will arrive the country soon.
Anoforom further explained that about six of such equipment will be purchased and installed in major airports across the country including airports in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and other airports.
He also said that it became imperative for government to secure the equipment in view of the need to have sufficient facilities to carry out efficient weather forecast and aeronautical information that will serve aviation and related sectors of the economy.
In his contribution, Ibrahim Auyo, managing director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), spoke of plans by government to complete all on-going safety-related projects, including the total radar coverage of Nigeria, such that there could be adequate separation and monitoring of aircraft in the airspace.
Demuren further said: "Safety is not deregulated in the Nigerian aviation industry, in spite of what may be going on in other sectors of the economy. We are still committed to the full cause of safety, because we are poised to improve our safety through our zero tolerance policy.
"From time to time, we are having meetings with officials of airlines, to inquire about their operations to ascertain their status. Even, NIMET, our sister agency, has been taking delivery of sophisticated equipment to detect thunderstorms, which has been deployed across the country.
"Even, at the Abuja Airport, we have installed a low-level wind shear alert system to improve on safety operations."
He spoke of collaborative efforts by aviation agencies to fast-track the completion of the very high frequency radio coverage of the airspace to improve ground to air communication between pilots and air traffic controllers.
To further entrench the pursuit of safety, NIMET has procured an upper air sounding equipment which will be installed at the airport to facilitate seamless and efficient of movement of aircraft in the airspace.
Demuren further explained that the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Fidelia Njeze, has directed heads of aviation agencies to identify and prioritise all safety-related projects they are embarking on, to enable the government to offer the necessary assistance to see the projects to completion.
The determination of NCAA management to promote aviation safety to the highest level has, no doubt, yielded positive results.
Before the current management led by Demuren, a Russian trained aeronautic engineer,  had been afflicted with devastating frequent crashes that brought anguish upon the country.
The agonies of the Bellview and Sosoliso’s fatal crashes which happened in quick successions in 2005 triggered off the mass purge in the authority that gave birth to the current team in the regulatory agency.
Prior to the emergence of the new team, there were allegations of poor oversight capabilities, resulting from lack of adequate manpower and official negligence against the agency as being responsible for the catastrophes that had overtaken the industry.
Evidently, the available manpower was not adequately exposed to the right training coupled with poor motivation.
The authority equally was naive in terms of carrying out its oversight functions on the sister organisations such as Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), NAMA and NIMET among others.
Private service providers such as the ground handing companies, training organisations, catering outfits and several other ancillary companies engaged in series of activities that were unchecked.
Demuren, on assumption of office, declared that officials of the authority, who will like to do business as usual had rather had a change of heart, else they would be encouraged to take exit.
He also made it clear that besides going after airlines and service providers, his management wouldn’t spare any of the officials of the regulatory agency found wanting in the discharge of his or her duties.
However, in the wake of the serial fatal crashes, embassies in the country advised its nationals to avoid traveling by air locally due to the eroded confidence in the safety of the local flights.