Rainy season: NCAA cautions pilots, operators over hazardous weather

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has advised pilots and airline operators to exercise caution over aviation hazardous weather in the rainy season.
This caution was contained in an Advisory Circular (AC) with reference no AC: NCAA-AEROMET – 33 initiated by the directorate of Aerodrome and Airspace Standards (DAAS) addressed to all pilots and airline operators and signed by the Director General, Capt. Musa Nuhu.

The circular is coming on the advent of the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) released for the year 2022 by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

NIMET has predicted Early/late March as the commencement of the rainy season across the Southern states while April/May and June, 2022 is the onset of the rainy season in the Central and Northern parts of Nigeria.

Rainy season, at outset, is usually characterized with severe thunderstorms and many other hazardous weather phenomena such as severe turbulence, microburst, low level wind shear events that could affect the safety of flight operations.

Hence, the need for all stakeholders to perform their roles as stated below in order to ensure safety of flight operations. With the issuance of this circular, Advisory Circular (AC): NCAA – AEROMET 32 is accordingly cancelled.

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Therefore, enumerated below is the responsibility for Air Traffic Controllers in the interest of safety: i. Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) may temporarily close the airspace when hazardous weather conditions such as severe thunderstorm, squall lines, microburst or level wind-shear are forecast by NIMET.

The NCAA enumerated a series of responsibilities for pilots and flight crew/operators: “Flight Crews/Operators and ATCs shall ensure strict adherence to aerodrome operating minima.

“Pilots shall exercise maximum restraint whenever adverse weather is observed or forecast by NIMET. “Pilots /Flight Crew Members shall obtain adequate departure, en-route and destination weather information and briefing from NIMET Aerodrome Meteorological Stations prior to flight operations.”

In view of the above, the NCAA stated that operators are required to play a key role in ensuring adequate measures are put in place to lessen the effects of the attendant flight delays and cancellations on their passengers occasioned by hazardous severe weather during the rainy season in accordance with Nig. CARs, Part 19.

While the regulatory authority urges all passengers to exercise patience and understanding during this period as their safety is of utmost importance, stakeholders are advised to ensure strict compliance to safety regulations as violations would be viewed seriously.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.