THE Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, has allayed fears that none of the Boeing aircraft operating in Nigeria has structural defect.He also confirmed that all airlines operating in the country have complied with the airworthiness directive.He however disclosed that the regulatory body will not allow any aircraft to fly if they failed to compy with safety regulation, pointing out that the era of cutting corners was over.Demuren made the disclosure in Lagos on Monday at the launch of AlphaAmin Foundation to be run by his wife, Osaretin, a former director in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).He however promised to supply detailed statistics of every aircraft, their safety status, including the Boeing 737s.The development is a fall out of the suspension of B737 classics over cracks in their frames in the United States and Europe. As a result, the aviation regulatory body had taken a bold step to again carryout inspection on Boeing 737 series planes for fatigue-induced cracks.In Nigeria, airlines with Boeing 737 series in their fleet are Chanchangi, Arik Air, Air Nigeria, Aero, and Skypower/Axiom Airlines.Preliminary investigations into the U.S. accident revealed that undetected cracks widened into a five-foot hole in the roof of a Southwest Airlines flight, forcing the plane, a Boeing 737-300, to make an emergency landing at a military base from 34,000 feet.Consequently, Boeing issued a bulletin to airlines flying some older models of its 737 jet, and called for special inspections of the lap joints in the fuselages of the planes.Following the U.S. governments directive, all operators of the Boeing 737 series planes in Nigeria were summoned to a crucial meeting by Demuren, penultimate week.Specifically, the U.S. airworthiness directive applies to 737s, which had flown for 30,000 cycles.His words; Let me first of all put your mind at rest. There is no aircraft flying in Nigeria today on which that airworthiness directive has not been complied with as of when due. In the first instance, I read some things in the newspapers, and I need to set the records straight. I will give you the details of the aircraft flying in this country.For instance, put your mind at rest, Arik is not affected. Arik operates new generation aircraft. They only have two Boeing Classics. And the planes are not in Nigeria. They are abroad doing maintenance and those inspections are being carried out. And from what they told me, they may not bring those aircraft again because they have ordered new ones, which are still coming in. So they are not affected at all.He explained that in the case of Air Nigeria, most of the aircraft in the fleet were not affected, arguing that those that are affected would be handled before they come back to service.We need to put the mind of the public at rest; it is mandatory. There must be compliance. And nobody will fly unless they comply.Demuren lauded the media, saying, when you (the press) helped us about five years ago by complaining about old age aircraft; we removed them due to Cape Town Convention; that is what we are enjoying today.
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