NCAA probes fuel marketers on sales across Nigeria

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA is to commence the review of licenses of fuel suppliers to the airports across the country to ensure they meet its requirements and standards for safety.

The review is coming on the heels of the discovery of fuel contamination on one of Max air aircraft Boeing 737 engine which is one of the reasons for the recent suspension of all the Boeing 737 aircraft type in the fleet of the airline by the NCAA.

In a zoom meeting with aviation correspondents, the Director General, Civil Aviation, Captain Musa Nuhu said, investigation has commenced to determine whether the fuel contamination is from the airline or the fuel suppliers.

“We don’t know what really happened but we are doing investigating on two sides, we learnt that, that particular aircraft took fuel in Lagos, Abuja and Kano so, our people have gone to those fuel suppliers one in Lagos, one in Abuja and one in Kano to see whether that is the source of the water in the tank is. They are looking at their storage facilities, looking at their bowsers, their fuelling procedures to ensure that everything is okay within the standards required for Aviation fuel”.

He said, appropriate action would be taken on any one indicted in the investigation.

“I expect to get the report on the investigation on the fuelling stations, any station any fueller that is identified has issue, we will suspend them from supplying fuel until whatever problems is satisfied through our own statisfaction and also we consult with petroleum regulatory agency in Nigeria to ensure all these matters are solved. So, we are taking a precautionary measures of grounding Max Air until the aircraft are fixed”.

According to the DGCA, some years ago, a fuelling company in Abuja was banned from supplying fuel to the airport for failing to adhere to their standards and requirements because of fuel contamination.

He said, this time, the NCAA would work with the fuel regulatory body to ensure they meet and comply with their requirements and standards.

The DGCA assured that, a circular would be sent to all airline operators reminding them of their responsibilities of ensuring safety as regards fuelling of their aircraft before embarking on flight operations.