Guardian

MORE reactions have trailed the call for the removal and prosecution of the Dirctor General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Olusegun Demuren.

The House of Representatives had on Wednesday sought the immediate dismissal and prosecution of Dr. Harold Demuren, over alleged negligence of duty, which it said played serious roles in the June 3, 2012 Dana Air crash, which claimed 163 lives.

Adopting the report of its Aviation Committee, which investigated the matter, the House also took the following resolutions that Dana current Air Operating Certificate (AOC) should be revoked because it was not issued in compliance with Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Civil Regulations Guideline 2009.

But Experts, under the aegis of Aviation Round Table (ART) and the Civil Society Aviation Coalition (CSAC) said it was unfortunate that the House of Representatives could make such recommendations without reading the Civil Aviation Act.

President and Secretary General of ART, Captain Dele Ore and Mr. Samuel Akerele said the Civil Aviation Act must be followed if Nigeria does not want to incur the wrath of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the global aviation regulatory body and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which frown at the huge interference in the worst of the country’s civil aviation regulations.

The duo disclosed that it was disheartening that the House of Representatives could contemplate the recommendations when the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) did not find the NCAA or Dana wanting in their oversight function.

Akerele, a former airspace manager said already, the ICAO and FAA were already watching, ‘the meddlesomeness of the National Assembly and the ministry in their interference in the work of the agency.

“What succession plans do they have for his replacement. These people generally lack the knowledge in aviation and will not stop to embarrass Nigerians before the international community. With the way we are going, ICAO and FAA is watching and if care its not taken, our aviation rating would be downgraded to category one. Demuren has not erred and you can’t talk of prosecution and under what law are you prosecuting him?”

Speaking in the same vein, the Civil Society Aviation Coalition (CSAC) said, “we have read with considerable shock and disappointment, the Report of the House of Representatives Committee on Dana Crash with a recommendation to sack the DG of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren and bring criminal prosecution against him. We are not particularly bothered about the call for the sack and the call for criminal prosecution, but the reasons adduced for the call, which are based on falsehood, fallacies and misrepresentation of facts. These are the fallacies we intend to address here for the interest of the nation’s aviation sector, the flying public and its continued relevance before the international aviation community.”

Executive Secretary and the National Publicity Secretary of CSAC, Emmanuel Onwubiko and Maimuna Al-Hassan stated, “the House Report alleges that the DANA Air MD 83 aircraft type has been phased out all over the world, including the United States. Nothing can be further from the truth. For the records these type of aircraft are still very widely in use in most countries around the world, with the largest number found among airlines in the U.S.”

We make bold to say that the MD 83 aircraft type has not been phased out worldwide, as indicated in the list of countries still using the aircraft type listed below:

• Worldwide, 207 of the MD 83’s are still in use, there are in use in 21 countries-they include Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh,, DRC, Croscell, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the U.S.A.

• American Airlines has 86 in its fleet

• Allegiant Airline 49

• Ryan International Airlines flying the oldest (27 years), indicating that age of aircraft has little correlation with air-worthiness

• The youngest is 16 years

Average age of the aircraft type-21 years

Onwubiko noted that in fact, United State Presidential candidate in the last Presidential election, Governor Mitt Romney used the MD 83 manufactured in 1990, the same year the aircraft in Dana fleet was manufactured.

He further explained that the second issue raised by the report, which was equally misleading and totally untrue was that the NCCA does not have any licensed aircraft Inspector type-rated on the MD 83 aircraft, stressing that the NCAA, indeed has Aviation Safety Inspectors comprising pilots, and Air-worthiness experts, who are trained on MD83 and effectively carry out day-day routine regulatory safety oversight on the aircraft.

“Thirdly, the Report said the country lacks Aircraft Hanger Maintenance facilities, to take charge of the maintenance of aircrafts. NCAA has always been at the forefront of encouraging private investors to establish such facilities in the country. But what is important to note is that the NCAA insists on the religious adherence to the stipulated Maintenance Programme for all airlines as contained in the Manufacturer’s Maintenance Manual (MMM) and NCAA Approved Maintenance Programme.”

“We want to also emphasise that this mandatory Maintenance Programme is carried out at designated and NCAA Approved Maintenance Organisations (AMO) abroad for the purposes of achieving the highest standards of safety. This outside maintenance programme is carried out under the strict supervision of NCAA Safety inspectors. So the question of the safety of aircraft operating in the nation’s airspace, in spite of the lack of AMO’s in the country is not in doubt.”

He noted that it was very uncharitable to describe Demuren as incompetent, recalling that the DG came on board at a time when the nations safety record was at his lowest ebb, with series of disastrious air crashes.

The resultant effect was that foreign airlines from America were banned from flying direct into the Nigerian airspace and vice versa for Nigerian Airline Operator’s Aircraft, adding that today, this has become a thing of the past as the nation, under the astute leadership of the current DG achieved Category Status which has also emboldened ICAO to place the responsibility of helping other African countries like Burundi, Mozambique, and Angola, amongst others on NCAA to meet ICAO Satey standards.

“In view of the fore-going, it is quite clear that whoever is calling for the sack and prosecution of the NCAA DG on account of the afore-mentioned falsehoods and misrepresentation of facts has clearly ulterior motives. As a matter of fact, Nigeria and NCAA, under the leadership of Demuren was about witnessing six years of free commercial aircraft accident with one million flights and 50 million passengers without any mishap before unfortunate Dans crash.”

“Nigerians must note that to date, the legitimate accident investigation authority, the AIB is yet to finalise its reports that will reveal the cause(s) of the Dana crash. It is therefore preposterous that the House Committee that lacks professional experts in aircraft Accident Investigation is reaching unfounded conclusions on what and who may have been responsible for the accident. This is nothing more than with-hunt and unwarranted blackmail,” he added.