Four airlines fined for gross safety violation

  • NCAA suspends license of operator for 180 days

For carrying out unapproved maintenance coupled with a huge number of deficiencies among others, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) wielded the big stick by sanctioning four airlines, among them a helicopter operator.

Although, the NCAA declined to list the names of offenders, a source who spoke to Woleshadarenews on strict condition of anonymity said two of the biggest domestic carriers were involved in gross safety violations.

Spokesman for NCAA, Sam Adurogboye in a statement said the four violators include both scheduled and non scheduled operators.

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He said during a spot inspection carried out by NCAA Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) on those operators, a number of deficiencies, including non implementation of training programmes of maintenance personnel as required, irregularities concerning Helicopter flight identification, deliberate violation of the Regulations, performing maintenance programme without necessary approval and using outdated manual were discovered.

He added that all these findings were found to be in violation of the regulations.

Consequently, the various operators he noted were fined ranging from one million and five hundred thousand naira only to Two million naira only [N1.5m – N2m], while the operator involved in deliberate violation of the Regulations had its Air Operator Certificate [AOC] suspended for 180 days.

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He noted that the authority has ensured that the affected personnel in question in the employment of one of the airlines are trained accordingly.

His words, “NCAA wishes to re-assure all stakeholders that it will continue to ensure that Standard Operating Procedures [SOPs] are strictly followed. The Authority expects strict compliance with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations in the future and violations will be viewed seriously”.

Wole Shadare