On 10 March 2019, an Ethiopian Airline with a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which operated a flight crashed near the town of Bishoftu six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people onboard also that of Lion Air Flight 610, an Indonesia flight which crashed into the Java Sea 13mins after takeoff, this led to the worldwide ban on the aircraft model due to the list of causality recorded since its launch. Recently, more countries have lifted the earlier ban on the Boeing brand after it has been remodeled and rebuilt to meet safety standards. Joining the list of countries who lifted the earlier ban, On the 12th of February, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced the lifting of the ban on the aircraft and has subsequently been certified to operate in Nigeria’s airspace.
On November 18, 2020, the NCAA received a Continued Airworthiness Notification to the International Community (CANIC) CAN-2020-24 advising it of the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) ongoing continued operational safety activities related to returning Boeing Model 737-8 and 737-9 (737 MAX) aircraft service.
NCAA recognised that a Joint Authority Technical Review (JATR) that comprised of International Aviation Authorities such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Transport Canada (TC) and the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority amongst others carried out a joint review of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 safety system alongside FAA and NASA.
Consequently, the FAA released documents on Boeing 737 Flight Standardization Board Report, revision 17, identifying special pilot training for the 737 MAX and Safety Alert for Operators.
Director-General of NCAA, Capt. Musa Nuhu in a statement lifting the ban on the Boeing 737MAX 8, said the aviation regulatory body recognizes the joint review of the Boeing 737 MAX Safety System and came up with the following actions required of all foreign and domestic operators:
*All intending domestic operators are required to work with the Boeing Company and NCAA for the Aircraft Type Certificate Acceptance Programme in order to have the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft registered in Nigeria and issued with a Standard Certificate of Airworthiness.
*All foreign air operators that intend to operate the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft into Nigeria must submit evidence of compliance with the FAA AD 2020-24-02
He disclosed that the NCAA would continue to ensure strict compliance to safety regulations as violations would be viewed seriously.
