The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, Wednesday in Abuja inaugurated the Nigeria Civil Aviation (NCAA) Flight Data Centre (FDC) to enhance safety regulations in the nation’s aviation sector.
The Centre, Keyamo said, was part of the NCAA’s concerted efforts to improve aviation safety in Nigeria.
He stressed that the facility speaks to one of his five points agenda which borders on safety improvement in the aviation sector;
Keyamo noted: “The fact that we are concentrating on improving safety within the sector of course would mean that we will keep moving up in the rating of ICAO.
“The Flight Data Center we just commissioned today is vital. I’m sure you have heard technical experts explain how it works. It doesn’t work only for incidences and serious incidents alone.
“It also works in a routine manner whereby they track flight patterns, they track various human efforts, and mechanical data. They conclude how to improve the sector, offer advice, and regulate better which is the core mandate of the NCAA.”
Keyamo stressed that the NCAA facility speaks to the fact that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is very concerned about improving different sectors, moving from an analog to a digital way of executing functions.
Earlier, the acting Director-General, NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo hinted that Annex 19 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation mandates all States to establish safety data collection and processing systems (SDCPS) to capture, store, aggregate, and enable the analysis of safety data and safety information.
According to him, Beyond the cost savings and efficiency benefits, the Authority would benefit, the facility would help reduce the likelihood of costly accidents and incidents.
Najomo noted that the facility would also supports the implementation of risk-based oversight through efficient allocation of resources to areas of higher risk and global credibility that aligns NCAA with global best practices and boosting international confidence in Nigerian aviation safety standards.
“In ensuring Nigeria, as an ICAO Contracting State, discharges this obligation, the NCAA went into collaboration with APS Aerospace Corporation. APS possesses more than 100 years of combined experience in Flight Data and Cockpit/ATC Audio Analysis,” he said.