Barely three years after the Federal Government bought and installed the Boeing 737NG aircraft and firefighting simulators at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, the equipment which cost about $21,000,000 (N16,094,655,759) are now lying fallow at the institution.
Simulators can cost between $7.64 million to $20 million each, with the 737 MAX at the upper end. The firefighting simulator was bought in 2019, while the Boeing stimulator which was initially supposed to be delivered to Nigeria in December 2016 but didn’t happen because of delayed in payments from the Nigerian government, was eventually delivered in 2020. Most of the domestic airlines in the country have Boeing aircraft and over 30 per cent of the country’s 554 licensed pilots are type-rated on Boeing 737 aircraft series, making the machine very viable.
Though the firefighting equipment is used occasionally by some of the agencies that patronise the college, the B737 simulator equipment has practically been abandoned. For instance, there is a three months course on airport emergency equipment at NCAT and the firefighting simulator equipment is usually used for its practical exercise.
At the moment, the country is losing out on income that would have accrued to it if the stimulator was put to good use, as official statistics show that on the average, Nigeria spends about $13 million annually to train pilots outside the country using the same equipment. Analysts estimate that with the simulator, the country could save up to $4 million on pilots’ training annually, apart from hotels and flight tickets expenditures.
Meanwhile the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has deployed national aviation safety reporting system for both mandatory and voluntary reports.
The deployment was announced in All Operators Letter (AOL) referenced NCAA/DG/AIR/11/16/341 dated August 25, 2023 and addressed to all aviation stakeholders and the general public. It was signed by the Director General of the agency, Capt. Musa Nuhu.
It is coming on the back of NCAA establishing a robust Safety Data Collection and Reporting System (SDCPS) called SMS Pro, that would bring Nigeria to full compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) receives, processes and analyses voluntarily submitted incident reports from pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, cabin crew, maintenance technicians crew and others who are expected to report occurrences in the course of their duties.
The Safety Reporting System is for implementation of the SSP/SMS, which is different from faults reported on tech logs. There are certain occurrences that must be reported under the Mandatory Reporting System (MRS) like tyre burst, breach of separation, bird strike, failure of engines before overhaul period, etc.
Mandatory Occurrence Report (MOR) forms are used to report to NCAA and organisations implementing SMS have the voluntary reporting systems. Some airlines have boxes around, emails or portals that can be used to send anonymous reports
It’s the MOR and the voluntary reports that will be reported under the new reporting system.
Annex 19 to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and the Civil Aviation Act 2022 mandate the implementation of Aviation State Safety Programme, hence, it is required that:
“All Service Providers Certificated by the NCAA provide details (email and phone numbers) of their respective focal points for submission of mandatory reports to the Authority. The focal points are expected to attend an orientation on the modalities and zoom invite will be provided for this orientation.
“As soon as access to the reporting system is granted, all service providers are required start using the system immediately. Though mandatory reports in paper may be still be accepted, submission of mandatory reports through the system is mandatory as from 1st September, 2023;
“Focal persons are mandated to immediately create awareness across their respective organisations and provide documented evidence that awareness campaign has been done to the Authority not later than 1st October, 2023. Such evidence shall be submitted through the safety reporting handle.
“ As soon as customised handles for submission of mandatory reports is provided, the focal persons are authorised to share the link with other key personnel within their various organisations to enable them submit reports which will be automatically classified under the applicable service provider in the reporting system.
“It is pertinent to note that both the NCAA and the NSIB have access to all submitted reports and are enabled to receive prompt email alerts as soon as any report is submitted into the system, including direct reports by the enabled public. And upon receipt of safety reports, both will do a preliminary risk assessment of each report to decide on which of the two agencies will handle the report,” the AOL stated.
“That stimulator is the only one of its kind in Nigeria and NCAA is to carry out the certification but they lack the capacity. The regulator needs to develop certification procedure in place. However, at NCAT, we have trained personnel that can handle the equipment and training has commenced for both NCAA and the NCAT operators,” the source said.
Another source within the school said the reason for the under utilisation of the equipment is due to the insecurity in the state.
The issue of insecurity and the unwillingness of domestic operators and pilots to conduct the training at the college has rendered the equipment redundant. At the moment, some pilots prefer to carry out their recurrent training abroad instead of NCAT.
The source also said that foreign investors are not willing to invest in the state, while those already established are quitting.
“Most of the students that are expected from neighbouring countries were not comfortable with the security situation in Nigeria, especially in Kaduna State. Even when we told them that the issue of security has been addressed, they refused to come.
“This is so because they are closer to us and they know almost everything about insecurity in our country. They are being careful about coming, but we have some other foreign students in the college at the moment and nothing untoward has happened to them.
“We advertised for the courses, but without the students, there is no way we can run any course. However, the issue of security has significantly improved in the state at the moment. Though, we still have some pockets of crisis in a few villages,” the source said.
Commenting on the development, chairman, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Arik Air chapter, Mudi Mohammed, said the country is losing out over the non-use of the B737 and advised the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, to relocate the equipment to NCAT’s land at Abuja which is close to the airport, so that it can be put to good use.
He told Daily Sun that the equipment was installed at the college over two years ago, but that it is yet to be put to use, despite its potential to raise revenue for the college.
He said that if put into use, the facility would save the country capital flight and generate more revenue for the government as it costs about $5,000 to train a pilot abroad with the same facility.
He said: “Flight simulators are mainly used to train pilots mostly on emergencies, such as engine failure for safety so that when any breakdown happens, they can maneuver and get the aircraft to the closest airport.
“It is mandatory that every six months, pilots will go for training to be more efficient in flying. We are not saying that our pilots won’t go out of the country for training, but if we can utilise our stimulator well, we would not be spending much forex.”
Source: sunnewsonline.com