The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a stern warning to aviation fuel suppliers (JETA1) involved in supplying contaminated fuel to airlines in the country. The regulatory body has stated that it will withdraw their licenses and ban them from operating in the aviation sector.
The Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu, made this declaration following a recent incident involving a Max Air Boeing B737 aircraft. The aircraft experienced a technical fault during a flight to Yola due to the fuel being contaminated with a significant amount of water.
During a Zoom meeting with aviation correspondents, Capt. Musa Nuhu revealed that the NCAA has already initiated an investigation to identify the supplier responsible for the adulterated fuel. Additionally, the regulatory authority plans to hold discussions with the relevant regulatory agency in the oil industry to address this issue and ensure adherence to the required standards.
He said, “We have started an investigation and we have identified three aviation fuel companies they took fuel from that day. They bought fuel in Lagos, Abuja and Kano the same day. We will mete out sanctions where necessary. We are going to hold a meeting with the regulatory commission in order to ensure compliance with standards.
“We are going to review all the marketers and withdraw their licence to sell jet fuel if we find them wanting. If the problem is from MAX Air, we will take appropriate action and if it is from the oil marketer, we will also take appropriate action as well” he told correspondents via zoom.
Speaking further, the NCAA helmsman affirmed that airlines and their captains were responsible for checks on the fuel put into their planes before operations.
“These are all spelled out in the operating manuals. It is the responsibility of the airline and the captain to check the quality of fuel supplied to them, NCAA staff can’t be at all fuel stations, we don’t have enough staff to go into all stations.”
The actions taken by the NCAA aim to maintain safety and quality standards within the aviation sector, emphasizing the importance of providing clean and uncontaminated fuel to airlines.
