AIB’s safety recommendations have improved our processes-NCAA DG

 

• Says agencies to collaborate to improve safer skies

 

To enable the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) comply with the requirements of the Act and the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB)  regulations, the aviation regulatory body disclosed that it has constituted a team of inspectors from the different technical areas and specialties of Airworthiness, Flight Operations, Air Navigation Services, Personnel Licensing and Aerodrome Operations.

 The Director General of NCAA, Capt. Muhtar Usman in a statement made available to Woleshadarenew disclosed that on receipt of the draft reports on serious incidents and accidents from the Bureau, the team reviewed the report in order to enhance its value, determine the necessity (whether to or not) to implement the safety recommendation and where required, develop safety actions to appropriately address the safety recommendations.

 

He lauded the AIB and expressed NCAA’s appreciation for the effort of the AIB in issuing these safety recommendations. The safety recommendations that the authority had implemented, he reiterated had assisted in improving our processes, led to the development of new and amendment of existing procedures, amendment of regulatory requirements and overall the strengthening of our safety oversight obligations’.

 

He assured that the NCAA was willing and ready to corporate and continuously improve the existing partnership with the Bureau to ensure safe skies within Nigeria.

 

He further stated that the NCAA’s response is forwarded to the Director General for amendments and acceptability and thereafter to the Bureau. Several Final Reports issued by the AIB contain these safety actions by the NCAA.

 

This may have brought to an end seeming face-off between Usman and AIB Commissioner, Akin Olateru over statement credited to Usman that the AIB had refused to meet with committee members for the review of accident safety recommendations.

 

He was also reported to have said that many of AIB’s recommendations were not ‘implementable’; a statement that infuriated Olateru.

 

Olateru at the release of six accident reports on Thursday alleged that Usman was economical with the truth, as he showed the members of NCAA that met in its last meeting few months ago. The meetings he said produced a report detailing actions that led to the attainment of 61 per cent of the recommendations that were fully implemented.

 

It would be recalled that in the last quarter of 2014, the then Minister of Aviation set up a Ministerial Committee on Nigerian Aviation Industry Aircraft Accident Reports Status (NAIAARS) with the Terms of Reference amongst which are to collate all Nigerian aviation industry aircraft accident reports from 2000 till date and determine the status of all reports and recommendations.

In second quarter of 2018, the AIB Safety Recommendation Committee was inaugurated by the Minister of State Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, under the chairmanship of the Commissioner, AIB with the following Terms of Reference:

 

Collate all Safety Recommendations issued since the establishment of the Bureau;

                                 i.            Determine the status and effectiveness of all Safety Recommendations issued since inception;

                               ii.            Give an opinion and/or make necessary recommendations on the assessment made.

 

The NCAA was invited to the Committee, where it presented the safety actions with supporting documents and evidences of the actions it had taken to address the safety recommendations made by the Bureau.

 

The Committee in its Final Report stated that it reviewed the status of implementation of a total of one hundred and fifty eight (158) safety recommendations, out of which one hundred (100), representing 63 per cent were fully closed, nineteen (19), i.e. 14 per cent, partially closed and thirty six (36 per cent) i.e. (23 per cent), open.

 

The NCAA chief noted that out of a total of thirty seven (37) safety recommendations that were issued to the NCAA, twenty nine (29) were fully implemented, two (2) partially implemented, one (1) yet to be implemented and on the remaining five (5), the NCAA did not agree with safety recommendations and had provided reasons. Recently, the NCAA had forwarded the status of implementation of the three (3) outstanding safety recommendations to the Committee.

 

His words, ‘The NCAA wishes to appreciate the effort of the AIB in issuing these safety recommendations. The safety recommendations that the authority had implemented had assisted in improving our processes, led to the development of new and amendment of existing procedures, amendment of regulatory requirements and overall the strengthening of our safety oversight obligations’.

 

He hinted that the authority had also reviewed and analyzed several observations and conclusions in the draft and final reports and had afterwards issued All Operators Letters to address certain safety issues, re-issued documents and heightened its surveillance on certain approved entities.

 

‘So, the issuance of safety recommendations and their appropriate implementation by the Authority is invaluable to the functions of the authority.

 

The NCAA, according to him is progressively ensuring the implementation of its responsibility with respect to enforcing compliance by relevant stakeholders with the AIB safety recommendations, adding that the current procedures to assure the above include the distribution of the safety recommendations to the appropriate technical directorates with oversight responsibilities on the concerned certified entities, requiring their accomplishment with supporting evidences and thereafter providing reports to the office of the Director General for documentations and records.

Google+