THE crash of Dana Flight 0992 has thrown up the argument of what age has got to do with safety of aircraft. Why many people hold the view that virtually all aircraft in the fleet of Nigerian carriers are old and should be barred from operating in the nation's airspace, others, especially aviation experts, believe that there are no old aircraft, stressing that airplanes can fly for many years as long maintenance procedure are followed.Age of aircraft became an issue in Nigeria after the crash of the Executive Air Services (EAS) aircraft, a BAC 1-11 (flight 4226) in Gwammaja, Kano State, on May 4, 2002 that killed 64 passengers and seven crewmembers, out of 69 passengers and eight crewmembers. That crash compelled the Federal Government to inquire about the age of airplanes flying the nation's airspace.To prevent another accident from happening, the government, through former Aviation Minister, Dr. Kema Chikwe, made a policy to bar aircraft of more than 22 years from the airspace.She attributed the crash to the age of the planes even as the investigators were yet to begin their job. But Chikwe stood her ground.In Nigeria, the average age of aircraft in the fleet of airline operators is 18 years while Arik Air is reputed to have the youngest fleet of less than eight years.For Dana, the average age is 21 years while Aero Contractors' fleet age is 19 years. Air Nigeria has average of 13 years, and IRS 22 years.The crashed MD 83 aircraft type owned by DANA that crashed in a densely populated area of Iju-Ishaga Lagos last Sunday, are still being flown by many airlines around the globe. The question is: how regularly are these airplanes maintained'Although the report of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) is not yet out, no one can exactly say what actually caused the accident in which more than 153 people lost their lives. Everything points to the aircraft losing its two engines, going by the account of the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Ogiemwonyi-Oduah.The minister said that old and perfectly maintained airplanes would have to be retired someday and younger ones injected into any airline's operational fleet.She contended that the reflexes and general performance of an aged airplane is incomparable to a younger one with modern state-of-the-art facilities.According to her, planes flying in Nigeria limp from point A to B, thus risking the lives of the flying public.However, aviation experts and aircraft engineers countenanced such view, insisting that an aircraft could not be said to be old as long as the operator sticks completely to the maintenance schedule of the manufacturer.They also said operating a young fleet is not a guarantee to safe operations, as other parameters must be in place.The Spirit Airline, one of the most successful low-cost carriers in the United States until recently, operated the aircraft type in the fleet of DANA Air.Records show that the U.S. carrier had 37 of the aircraft type, including the older DC-9. The airline had eventually leased the aircraft to other operators, which names were not given. Eight of them are still in the airline's custody, while four had been completely disposed of.Apart from these aircraft type, other fleets' average age is less than eight years. The cost of maintaining younger fleet are cheaper compared to 'aged' airplanes, according to experts but they maintained that age has nothing to do with aircraft safety.Last year, American Airline retired at least 25 MD-80s and it is not exactly known when all MD-80s will be out of service. The airline replaces the aircraft type with Boeing 737-800 with Boeing's Sky Interior. This is just one step in Americans renewing their fleet and brand.The fleet renewal is the main means to improving one's fuel efficiency. Modern airplanes have a better fuel efficiency (performance calculated in litres of kerosene par passenger per 100 kilometres), while older planes are fuel guzzling and very expensive to maintain.ORE: Emphasis Should Be On Airworthiness Of AircraftA RETIRED pilot with the defunct Nigeria Airways, Captain Dele Ore, told The Guardian that the issue of aging aircraft is one that is very peculiar to the Nigerian State.According to him, 'a two-month aircraft in the hand of an incompetent operator is as dangerous and even more dangerous than a 40-year-old aircraft that have been well-maintained.'He stressed that the issue of aged aircraft came in as a result of the EAS aircraft that crashed at the outskirts of Kano in 2002.'We allowed emotion to run wild because we lost a Minister of Sports and then our iron lady then, Mrs. Kema Chikwe, came with 22 years policy (for aircraft plying their trade in the country),' he said.'How did they come about that figure of 22 years' Is it the age of maturity' I thought they should have been thinking about 18 (years) but they came up with 18 years. I don't know how to defend it because it is so ridiculous.'But we thank God that, as bad as regulation is or that directive is, I think it has only just improved the systemand made some people to go under completely.'The emphasis in Nigeria and all over the world, Captain Ore noted, should be the airworthiness of an aircraft and not its age, as 'age of aircraft does not count in aviation.'To him, the age of an aircraft becomes necessary when it becomes impossible 'for you to maintain that aircraft economically to begin to do all the checks and, of course, when it becomes uneconomical to continue to maintain the aircraft. That is where you say this aircraft is old.'Ore said that, 'at the time you are spending more money to maintain the aircraft that you will normally use the proceed to get brand new aircraft, that is the day you say it's not viable to operate.''For that reason, we have now in our system very good fuel efficient aircraft that are much younger than 22 years. But the rule didn't say that an aircraft that is more than 22 years could not fly in this country; it said, 'you cannot register it and bring it in for the first time.' Once it is younger than 22 and it's in our system, it can still continue to fly,' he said.Captain Ore, also an aviation lawyer, disclosed that age does not determine how safe an aircraft can be. Hence, he raised some posers:'Who is going to determine how safe that aircraft is' What has the operator done with the aircraft' Secondly, where is that aircraft coming from, from day one when it was manufactured from the test flight or anything peculiar to that aircraft''Has it been taken care of or they have transferred it from about five, six operators and have they properly maintained the aircraft and, of course, is the record properly kept' Is the airworthiness directive properly complied with''He continued: 'When all maintenance are taken care of, the age of an aircraft does not matter. How well it is handled is the one that determines how safe the aircraft is.'OLOWO: Aircraft Has No AgeSPEAKING in the same vein, Mr. Gbenga Olowo, the president, Sabre, an American global distribution system, said the fuselage of an aircraft, the Auxiliary Power Unit and the engines are the three primary components of the craft with each of them wearing out at different times.According to him: 'If you use an aeroplane very well or economically, a good operator is expected to fly between 2,000 and 3,000 hours in one year.'Supposing your engines have 30,000 cycles when it was rolled out, at 3,000 hours per year, in 10 years, that engine is gone, would you now say that the aircraft is 10 years old''Meanwhile, the engine is still there, has a lot of life. So, if you are a good operator and your engine is already out in 10 years, that means, you are going to put new engines with another new life ' an engine that can give you another 15 years.'If you put in an engine with 50,000 cycle, 50,000 cycle divided by 2,000, that is another 15 years on the engine. So, the age of the engine is older than the age of the fuselage and the age of the fuselage is different from the age of the APU. Then, what exactly is the age of an aeroplane''That is why the aircraft has no age. The aircraft is measured by airworthiness because each of those components is checked. It is routine maintenance.'Olowo related that routine maintenance is done once an aircraft flies 500 to 800 hours, which he referred to as the A-Check, stressing that when the machine does between four to six months, they call it B-Check.'To him, as long as 'you carry out all those checks like the A, B, C checks and the aeroplane remains airworthy, you don't talk about its age.'But he emphasised that, 'experience has confirmed to us that when an aeroplane has gone about two to three D-Checks ' you know I said one D-Check is about six years ' once it does about three D-Checks, which brings it to 18 years, a lot of service bulletins, airworthiness directives, those checks will become very expensive.''Thus, you now begin to say instead of me taking up this cost on maintenance, should I go for a fresher one' But, of course, there are aging programmes.'If you can't afford a new one because of the cost of procurement, the cost of maintaining this one is still cheaper than going for a brand new one to make it airworthy,' he added.OHUNAYO: Old Aircraft Not Safety RiskSIMILARLY, an aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, stated that, 'emotions are high and quite naturally, one expects all sorts of allegations and innuendoes when there is an accident.'But he contended that, 'old aircraft are not safety risk, as being perceived down here. Rather , they are commercially disadvantageous and more expensive to maintain and operate.''It's on this basis that airlines with deep pockets maintain a young fleet and usually trade-off older aircraft,' he said.'It's erroneous to feel that used aircraft brought into Nigeria by ouroperators are those abandoned due to technical problems.These aircraft are tested and investigated by the operators and regulatory authorities before they get onto our registry.'It's not aday's job but a painstaking process that takes months or yearsdepending on the operators' compliance to the rules and processesguiding it,' he said.Ohunayo noted that the legacy carriers were buying newer aircraft for reasons such as competitive slot and frequency constraints, regulations, taxadministration and most importantly, attractive financing options.He said that the low cost carriers that are the vogue in the industry use the same reasons, in addition to having the aircraft do a lot of rotations per day, which, he said, 'will be possible with older aircraft but at great expense and down time.''Down here in Nigeria, for reasons beyond the operators' control, we have been unable to attract deep-pocket foreign investors that are willing to invest in our airlines or start a low-cost carrier despite having a huge market,' he said.'The Philippines, a CAT 2 country with flight restriction to Europe, has been able to attract $1 billion to its carriers whilein Thailand, a new carrier made the most audacious Boeing aircraft order after the visit of the US President.'Ohunayo advised Nigeria to look inwards at 'our policies that have made investment unattractive, while they (investors) prefer to go to Accra (Ghana) with a smaller market.
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