BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

A former Director, Airworthiness and Operation Standard, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and former Rector , Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, and former Director, Air Transport Bureau of International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, in Montreal, Canada,   Mrs Folasade Odutola has said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, does not need to ground an airline in order to carry out operational audit on the airline.

Odutola said this while fielding questions from aviation reporters on the current state of aviation industry in the country and her new book, The Big Conspiracy which will be presented to the public soon in Lagos. She said what is required is for the safety auditors to use the “check list” to evaluate the aircraft and know the airworthiness of the plane. This is the same check list used before a certificate of airworthiness is issued.

It will be recalled that Dana Air has been grounded since October 6th, 2013. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, directed the management of Dana Air to immediately suspend its flight operations to allow for an ‘operational audit of the airline’. The airline complied without delay.

The Director General of NCAA had said the audit was to be an industry-wide exercise for all local operators, with Dana Air as the first airline to be so audited Odutola said grounding an airline sends out the wrong signal and creates the impression that the airline is not healthy and therefore cannot operate flights. According to her “ You can only ground an airline base on the findings of a safety audit . It is the final report of the audit that determines if the airline should be grounded or not. Check list is used to audit an airline.”

On the autonomy of NCAA, the former Rector who has just authored a book on aviation titled “The Big Conspiracy” said it is not necessarily how autonomous the NCAA is that determines how effective the agency will be, but the integrity and determination of whoever heads the regulatory agency that determines how effective the agency will be in discharging its duty. She however said there should not be interference in the technical duties of the agency especially those concerning safety.

According to her “ NCAA is a parastatal in the Federal Ministry of Aviation and so there is bound to be  checks and supervision from the ministry. But who ever heads the ministry should not interfere in the day to day discharge of the technical duties of the regulatory agency especially those that concern safety. Civil aviation thrives on maintaining the highest standards of safety.  Safety cannot be compromise.

On safety and security at the nation’s airport, She said, “If the securities of our airports are regularly violated, it means our airports are porous or we are not being diligent enough. So, we should look closely at security. However, I don’t know how secured our airport borders are because that is the only route we can have intrusion into the airports by those who are not supposed to be there.

“I believe that for someone to get to the aircraft, he must have a ticket and if someone without a ticket gets to the aircraft, it shows there are lapses in security system and we should tighten up or block those gaps, definitely, there are lapses, otherwise we won’t have stowaways. Anybody who can do that can equally plant bombs within the airports or put guns inside the aircraft. Whatever we have to do to improve security within the airports should be out in place.

Odutola’s  new book on aviation The Big Conspiracy talks about “the travails of a progressive safety regulator in a not-so-progressive aviation industry “ It is a chronicle of some of her experiences as an aviation executive which span 35years.

She said “The Big Conspiracy is about my experience in the aviation industry which I consider very amazing and  interesting enough to share with all and sundry. It details my ordeals as a regulator, both of safety and economy but mostly of safety, in a morally challenging environment that existed and , most unfortunately still exist in Nigeria.”