The recent incident involving water contamination in certain aircraft’s fuel tanks has been the subject of an intensive investigation by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
The NCAA stated that the action was taken to stop such safety violations in the future.
Capt. Musa Nuhu, Director General of NCAA, said the organisation was stepping up its investigation to pinpoint the cause of the problem while speaking at a meeting with domestic and foreign operators, aviation fuel suppliers, and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Nuhu, the issue of fuel contamination was beyond the purview of the aviation ecosystem, hence engagement with the regulator of the downstream sector.
He said,” The fuel contamination is outside the purview of the aviation ecosystem, which is why we have engaged the regulator of the downstream sector. We have been in consultation with NMDPRA because they certify all the oil companies in Nigeria.”
He added that the collaboration has become imperative because of the noticed gaps due to the lack of deliberate collaboration between NCAA, NMDPRA, and FAAN on fuel quality monitoring.
The NCAA boss added that the agency, FAAN, NMDPRA, NSIB, airliners, pilots, fuel deport operators, aircraft maintenance officers and other stakeholders will be part of a committee that would be set up to ensure the aviation fuel quality is constant.
Nuhu further said, “Facets of the aviation fuel ecosystem must be investigated to arrive at the true situation. The investigation is not necessarily to indict anyone but to strengthen safety in the aviation industry.”
