Why FG is Installing Chips on Local Aircrafts-NCAA

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the federal government is installing chips on local aircrafts to immediately ascertain performance abnormalities in domestic aircrafts while they are air borne.

Harold Demuren, director-general of the NCAA, said that the device will serve as back up in the event of loss of data contained in the aircraft’s black box.

In aviation, a "black box" is an audio or data recording device in an airplane or helicopter.

 However, the new equipment called, Automatic Flight Information Reporting System, will enable the NCAA record and monitor abnormalities encountered by airplanes during flights from a remote centre.

Demuren, who made the disclosure at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos during the inaugural flight ceremony of a new domestic carrier, MedView Airlines, said  that the plan came on the heels of the loss of data contained in the black box of the Dana Air plane that crashed in Iju area of Lagos on June 3, 2012, killing 163 people.

Experts said the data loss adversely affected investigations into the cause of the dual engine failure experienced by the ill-fated Dana flight.

According to Demuren, the regulatory agency will make the installation of the new device in aircraft a compulsory requirement for all domestic airlines, adding that it would be included in carriers' minimum equipment list.

He said, "The new device will record everything that happens to an aircraft during flight. If there is engine failure, it will record it; if there is excessive temperature, it will record it. If there is excessive vibration, it will record it.

"All airlines will be required to fix this on board their aircraft. The control centre will be at the NCAA, where we will be seeing everything. This is a good development in our airspace."

The NCAA boss affirmed that Medview was issued an Air Operators Certificate after demonstrating acceptable safety standards to the regulatory agency, and wished the management of the airline "zero accident and zero fatality."