Oduah must make Nigerian airspace safer

 

COMING barely 16 months after the last crash in Lagos that claimed 153 lives, the latest air crash in the country has shown us again the nasty consequences of a mid-air disaster and put in great doubt the integrity and technical competence of our air safety regulators.  It has also thrown into question the numerous claims of improved safety records, arising from a supposedly more rigorous and
painstaking regulation of the airline industry by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. Going by the latest incident, nothing seems to have changed significantly in the industry after a slew of deadly crashes stung government into action a few years back. It is the Minister of Aviation’s duty to put in place and enforce regulations for safe skies.

There is no doubt that the tragic incident has thrown the country into serious mourning, but for a country that has become accustomed to losing her citizens violently in two to three dozens per week, it is doubtful if the air tragedy will move the government into lasting action. The ill-fated Embraer 120 aircraft, one of about four in the fleet of a private company, Associated Aviation Limited, crashed less than two minutes after take-off.

No fewer than 14 lives were lost in the crash that happened on Thursday morning within the vicinity of the

Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. On board the flight that was bound for Akure, the Ondo State capital, were 20 passengers and crew members as well as the remains of a former governor of the state, Olusegun Agagu, which were meant for interment the following day. This is the second plane to have crashed in the vicinity of Lagos in less than two years. Is Lagos becoming a new Bermuda Triangle where aircraft meet their waterloo?

Although there have been reports pointing to engine failure, there has not been an official statement about what actually led to the tragic incident. President Goodluck Jonathan must ensure that a methodical and transparent investigation is carried out to identify the cause of the crash. Hopefully, with the recovery of the Black Box, much will be revealed. Such revelations, if acted upon, could guard against a future occurrence or bring about a reduction in the frequency of such occurrences.

However, actions taken so far by the regulatory and supervisory agencies do not offer comfort to air travellers, who, by now, would be wondering when the next crash would occur. Such a sense of foreboding is by no means misplaced, given the near-crash recorded in Sokoto 24 hours after the Lagos crash. A Kabo Airline Boeing 747, carrying 512 Saudi Arabia-bound pilgrims and crew members, lost two of its tyres midair while attempting to land. Though no casualties were recorded, the incident sent a disquieting signal of a systemic crisis.

The knee-jerk reaction of the government so far has shown that lessons are not learnt from previous occurrences and, from the look of things, nothing may come out of the current one, beyond the usual bravado of a temporary clampdown on the offending airline. The announcement of the suspension of operations of Dana Air – the airline involved in last year’s crash in Lagos – and the grounding of Associated Airlines’ flights follow this known pattern. This will be followed by platitudes that are not likely to ease the fears of airline travellers.

According to the Coordinating General Manager, Corporate Communications, Aviation Parastatals, Yakubu Datti, the grounding of the airlines will enable the regulatory agency to conduct an operational audit on them. The question then arises: does it mean that if there was no crash “operational audit” would not have been conducted? Besides, must an airline’s entire fleet be grounded before such a routine exercise can be carried out?

For all the noise about strict regulation to meet international standards, there is still good reason to believe that due diligence was not carried out before the aircraft that crashed was put to use. For instance, it was said that the aircraft last flew on August 30, a full month before the ill-fated trip. It is common knowledge that when a machine is left idle for a while, a thorough check and test-run are required before it can be put to use. The fact that an aircraft has a certification of air worthiness should not foreclose this.

Surprisingly, this is coming at a time when cutting-edge technology has drastically reduced air crashes globally. The Wall Street Journal newspaper of the United States said recently that “a major reason for the worldwide drop in accidents (33 per cent in 2012) over recent years is that most big countries cut their tolerance for safety lapses – at their own carriers and on foreign airlines”. But, here, like other countries with awful aviation safety records, corruption has created an environment for a raft of gross violations and errors, falsification of documents and widespread use of substandard spare parts.

There is no doubt that the time is ripe for a total overhaul of the Nigerian aviation industry to cut down on crashes and avoidable deaths. In other climes, where regulation is up to scratch, fatalities are few and far between. For instance, Virgin Atlantic, one of the most respected airlines in the world, has never suffered a crash since it commenced operations in 1984. It is not a coincidence, but a result of diligent and effective regulation and maintenance culture.

In Nigeria, however, since the 1969 Nigeria Airways VC10 crash that claimed 87 lives, it has been one disaster after the other. To restore the confidence of air travellers, the government should go ahead and overhaul the entire system. There is the need for the government to ratchet up enforcement of existing regulations and adopt stricter international standards. The government could invite foreign experts and technocrats, if need be, to train our pilots, controllers and inspectors as China did about a decade ago. Just two years on, Chinese aviation was ranked among the world’s safest. Efforts should also be made to attract foreign investment in the airline business and encourage whistle-blowing complaints. Aside from effective regulation, efforts must be made to ensure the welfare of the pilots and engineers in the industry. A situation where pilots and engineers are owed many months’ salaries does not create room for efficient service delivery.

Aviation regulators and airlines should work together to end the carnage and make our skies safe. The crisis in the aviation sector is not unconnected with the proliferation of small airlines that rely on aging, secondhand aircraft, many of which do not meet current international safety standards. Even though it is often said that age does not matter, the cost of maintaining a new aircraft will surely be less than that of overhauling old ones. The aviation industry, therefore, needs an injection of modern aircraft to save our air travellers from tragic deaths. Efforts should be made to invest in new aircraft instead of airlines going abroad to acquire 20 to 30-year-old aircraft.

Following a thorough investigation, if negligence is uncovered, punitive measures must be taken against culprits whenever a plane crashes. It is only when people know that they will be answerable for their deeds that they sit up and take their jobs seriously.