The Acting Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Engr. Benedict Adeyileka, has said that the agency had engaged a team of external advisors from the United States to advise it on the ongoing re-assessment of Nigeria’s CAT 1 safety status by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Speaking yesterday at a press conference in Lagos when the FAA re-assessment team arrived in Nigeria, Adeyileka said the exercise would be concluded this Friday.
He said: “They are advisors. That are here to advise us they are here to look at areas that we must have missed out.When you audit yourself, you can be doing the same thing wrong for 20 years. You need somebody to look at it from a different angle.
“That is why I said that we tried to do a mock audit; we tried to get a particular set of the group…who are not one of us and who are from outside to question anything that is questionable. They are here to advice us and they don’t have any other role.”
On the audit, he said the regulatory body was not alone in the exercise saying “it involves all the agencies, ground handlers and airlines in the industry.”
He also said NCAA had the support of the federal government adding that the reassessment by FAA would re-shape the future of aviation in Nigeria.
Adeyileka added: “This exercise that the NCAA will be going through in the next few days will help to shape the future of aviation in Nigeria, strengthen our safety oversight capability and also provide the re-assurance that the flying public needs. It is pertinent to point out that we are ready for the exercise as we have never relented in ensuring the high level of compliance to safety standards.”
