How Nigeria can attain improved air safety – Experts

Experts in the aviation sector have explained how the country can achieve improved air safety.

Musa Nuhu, the director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), called for a critical review of the relationship between the live ware components and the other components of the aviation ecosystems and device means towards achieving safe aircraft operation thus preventing accidents due to human errors.

This is just as Etete Ifeanyi, the National coordinator State Safety program, NCAA, emphasized the role of the Quality assurance Manager within an organization stressing that their jobs need to be protected as part of the gamut for creating a system with fewer accidents.

Both submissions were made at the just concluded League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) and Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) Conference: Preventing Human Factors in Air Accident Investigations held at the weekend in Sheraton Hotels and suites laying emphasis safe operations devoid of human errors.

Nuhu while giving the keynote address at the conference stated that all accidents regardless were global tragedies and unravelling the causes ensures effective safety recommendations.

He said, “I must unequivocally state that every aviation accident is a global tragedy and the industry, through the accident investigative authorities must be determined to unravel the probable causes, contributory factors and develop appropriate safety recommendations that are based on safety risk assessments and considerable cost-effectiveness and the regulatory authorities must enforce their implementation by certified entities and licensed personnel to prevent reoccurrence and improve safety records.

The Director General also stressed that human factors in aviation occurrences are most times seen as the negative consequence of the live ware dimension in an interactive ecosystem.

He stated that: “The Live ware is the non-standardized, most critical, least predictable and most susceptible to the effects of internal and external changes and therefore must be carefully adapted and matched to other system components in order to avoid stress within the system and prevent its eventual breakdown.

Nuhu therefore urged the gathering to critically review the relationship between the live ware components and the other components of the aviation ecosystems and devise means towards achieving an effective and seamless safe aircraft operation and therefore preventing accidents due to human errors.

Etete Ifeanyi who spoke during the panel session accentuated the role of the quality assurance manager within an organisation stressing that their jobs need to be protected as part of the gamut to creating a system with fewer accidents.

Ifeanyi who was reacting to questions at a panel discussion put to him by Gabriel Olowo, President Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ART), who asked if the Quality Assurance Manager of the airline should be paid by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) so he can adequately monitor the airline for the regulator.

Ifeanyi said If the CAA pays the quality assurance manager, he the quality manager may decide not to work in that place stating that it is the responsibility of the CAA to protect the job of the quality assurance manager as the quality manager is not supposed to be a glorified messengers doing whatever he is asked by his CEO as his functions go deeper.

Ifeanyi said,” Quality management must be an independent system that can report directly to the CEO and the CEO should also be part of that quality assurance system. Why will he report to the CEO, because maybe the director of operations and maintenance don’t want any kind of interference and then it expands on the culture in that organization. What the CAA does is to audit what the quality assurance system has already audited. That is what our job is supposed to be because he or she is the eye of the CAA within that organization.

Any CEO that would not allow his or her own personnel within the quality assurance system to do his work, believe me that person is heading towards catastrophe, he may be picking on little gains that he believes are there when he forces the person to do what is not right, that has an effect.

“The quality assurance system in any organization should cover each and every department in every unit of that organisation and the basic function of the quality assurance system is the adequacy of the procedures and policies and compliance with the regulatory requirement to conformance with the procedures.

“These management systems are supposed to be independent. This is my personal opinion, if I continually see the CEO running around the NCAA looking for approval then something is wrong in his organisation, that is a fact because if you are allowing your personnel to do what they need to do then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Also speaking at the event earlier, Akin George, the representative of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), posited that the efficacy of the quality assurance manager depends on the system run by the organisation which may make or mar it so to speak.

He said, “One of the key items that will be looked for in human factor is the culture of the organization and the regulator but within the organization itself, if you have a culture where communication is open, where there is respect between the employee and employer then it is easier for both the organization and personnel to communicate back and forth.”