Three incidents, in quick succession, have brought the Nigerian airspace and operations under safety scrutiny. While all the incidents are under investigation and Max Air’s operations suspended, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) reactionary approach to safety audits of commercial carriers is unsettling stakeholders.
Three serious incidents happened in the last one week. It started with the American United Airlines flight UAL 613 that departed Lagos en route to Washington Dulle, making an air return following a technical issue and loss of altitude over Côte d’Ivoire’s airspace and almost three hours after takeoff.
The airplane had 245 adults and 11 crew members onboard. According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), four passengers and two crew members sustained serious injuries, and an additional 27 passengers and five crew members had minor injuries.
On Tuesday night, a Max Air aircraft with registration marks 5N-MBD suffered a tyre burst on landing at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Tuesday, 28th January 2025, at about 2251 hours. All 58 passengers onboard were safely rescued.
day later, a trainee aircraft belonging to the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) skidded off the runway on Wednesday after landing at the NCAT airstrip. A source close to the college told our correspondent that there was no substantial damage to the aircraft, and the student pilot was doing fine.
While all three incidents are still being investigated by the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and may not be directly related, they all combine to raise fresh safety concerns for stakeholders, including the apex regulator, the NCAA.
Director of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, reiterated that the specific causes of this incident could only be established after the NSIB has conducted its investigation.
In the interim, he said that the NCAA had commenced organisational risk profiles for each scheduled operator, including Max Air, which is nearing its conclusion.
“However, as a result of this incident, Max Air is suspending its domestic flight operations for three months, effective from midnight, 31st January, 2025, to allow for an internal appraisal of its operations by its management.
“During this three-month period, the NCAA will conduct a thorough safety and economic audit on Max Air. The safety audit will entail a re-inspection of Max Air’s organisation, procedures, personnel and aircraft as specified by Part 1.3.3.3(b) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, while the economic audit will critically examine the financial health of the airline to guarantee its capability to sustain safe flight operations.
“The resumption of Max Air’s domestic flight operations will be predicated on the satisfactory completion of this audit,” Achimugu said. Max Air has indeed recorded multiple serious incidences in the recent times. On July 22, 2024, a Boeing 737 (5N-ADB) experienced a rear gear tyre burst during takeoff from Yola Airport. The incident escalated as two additional tyres burst while the aircraft attempted to taxi off the runway.
On May 7, 2023, Max Air Yola–Abuja aircraft lost its main landing gear wheel mid-flight. On July 7, 2023, fuel contamination was discovered in another Boeing 737-300 (5N-MHM) at Yola Airport, further exposing the airline’s maintenance vulnerabilities.
On July 11, 2023, a separate flight was forced to abort takeoff due to high exhaust gas temperature, while another flight returned to Abuja mid-air due to a cockpit duct overheat indication. These repeated failures led to the NCAA’s directive to temporarily ground Max Air’s Boeing 737 fleet in July 2023.
The former Commandant of the Lagos Airport in the 90s, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), reckoned that there was nothing in the airline suspending its operations, though NCAA should have taken proactive action on the airline after the reported incidents in Maiduguri before the last serious incident in Kano.
“The airline’s action would probably be in accordance with its Operations (Safety) Programmes approved by the NCAA. So, the action of the airline is very appropriate. What I think is inappropriate is an NCAA Audit now. No!
“NCAA can only conduct Checks or Inspections. Audits are periodically regulated, which must have been done before now, or the time is yet to come. If the time is coincident with the time of the serious incident, the NCAA would have to wait for the NSIB Report. Otherwise, it is preempting the report that is likely to implicate it (NSIB),” Ojikutu said.
A former Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Capt. Samuel Caulcrick, however, said that it was in the purview of the airline to voluntarily suspend its operations due to lack of capacity or any other reason.
Apart from the voluntary suspension of operations by airlines, Caulcrick also said that the NCAA was apparently deficient in surveillance, adding that the regulatory body was supposed to carry out regular economic and operational audits of every airline holding its Air Operator’s Certificates (AOCs) and licenses.
He said: “When you issue an AOC, you are supposed to carry out oversight of their functions regularly. You don’t have to wait for something to happen or every two years. The job of the regulator is to be on the field, but here, we are in the offices. You have to be with them. That is what surveillance is all about,” Caulcrick said.
