NCAA investigates three oil companies over Max Air incident

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has commenced investigations into three aviation fuel suppliers over Max Air incident that led to the suspension of its Boeing 737 aircraft type with immediate effect.

In the course of its investigation, NCAA identified three aviation fuel suppliers linked to the circumstamces that led to contamination in the commodity supplied to Max Air some days ago.

Musa Nuhu, director general of the NCAA said the Authority took immediate action on the incident on that day, saying it does not relax in carrying out its oversight functions as some quarters were speculating.

In a Zoom meeting with aviation correspondents on Thursday, Nuhu disclosed that Max Air’s B737 operations was grounded, following series of incidents it recorded, with the major one being fuel contamination of the main fuel tanks of aircraft B737-300, with registration Marks; 5N-MHM, leading to the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) shutdown on ground Yola Airport on the July 7, 2023.

Nuhu further explained that the aircraft involved was grounded immediately while the crew was interrogated the next day.

“Yes, it’s true, the operations of Max Air B737 fleet has been suspended for a series of issues they’ve had over a couple of times. We did have a meeting with Max Air about a month ago after the landing incident in Abuja, a lot of issues were trashed out. As you are all aware, several days ago, there was a video that went viral as regards to the issue the they had on ground in Yola where supposedly, drops of water was removed from the aircraft.

“Certainly, during aircraft fuelling, they had water in it but we do not know the amount because we were not there. That same day, when the report reached me, I called for a Zoom meeting with my folks, we spoke and that particular aircraft was grounded.

Read also: NCAA suspends Max Air’s 737 aircraft type over safety concerns

“The grounding was to ensure it is safe to resume normal passenger operations because when fuel enters the tanks, it goes through the engines, it can do damage to the fuel controlling it, there are a lot of things that can be spoilt, so we have to be sure they take the appropriate maintenance procedure to ensure continued airworthiness of the aircraft. The second aircraft had landing issues, it was supposedly fixed by Aero contractors in Lagos.

“We have started investigation and we have identified three aviation fuel companies they took fuel from that day. We will mete out sanctions where necessary. We are going to hold meeting with the regulatory commission in other to ensure compliance with standards”, he said.

He revealed that two fuel companies had some time ago, been banned from supplying fuel to aircraft in Abuja over contamination and non compliance with standards.

While insisting that it was also the responsibly of the airline and the captain in command to check the fuel before taking off from a particular airport, Nuhu said: “all these are in the manuals. It is the responsibility of the captain, NCAA staff can’t be at all fuelling stations, we don’t have enough staff to go into all stations, it is the responsibility of the airline.

“The aircraft involved was grounded immediately pending investigation, we acted immediately it happened, the crew were interrogated the following day, there are so many things that happened that are not made public, I am only supposed to speak when we have concluded and have affirmative action”, he added.

The NCAA had suspended with immediate effect, the parts A3 and D43 in the Operations Specifications of the Boeing B737 Aircraft type in the fleet of Max Air Limited.

The Authority said in a statement signed by Sam Adurogboye, General manager, public affairs, that its action is based on several occurrences that involved the Boeing B737 aircraft type listed as as follows: Loss of number 1 Main Landing Gear (MLG) wheel during the serious incident involving Boeing 737-400 aircraft registration marks 5N-MBO which occurred between take-off at Yola Airport Adamawa State and on landing at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja Nigeria on May 7, 2023.