Adulterated fuel: Unions, Airlines call for increased vigilance in Jet A1 loading

The call for intense vigilance especially as it concerns purchase and loading of Jet A1 also known as aviation fuel has increased as operators have been urged to intensify their testing of the product anytime jet fuel is purchased to guard against adulterated products.

This is just as National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has asked the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) as a matter of urgency to consider establishing a Standard fuel laboratory, ensure only licensed fuellers operate in the industry.

Chief Operating Officer United Nigeria Airline, Mazi Osita Okonkwo who spoke on the sidelines of the 27th annual League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) conference

Okonkwo said, “The NCAA, the operators, the fuelers and the NNPC are all working on that and I don’t think we will ever see it again. What it simply means is that we should all be vigilant and all the pre-flight operations or activities must be done by operators, also by fuelers.

“They can’t assume that once the bowser comes up in the morning that everything is fine, you must do these things. And before the fuel enters your plane, you have to do the normal basic checks.  These are standard operating procedures.

Also  NAAPE in their recent Communique expressed concern about the adulterated fuel incident charged airline operators to ensure that they audit the  fuel suppliers before patronising them.

Its Communique read, “NAAPE observes an increased adulteration in aviation fuel, which has grave consequences on safety. We reliably gathered that most of the Fuelers are not licensed by the NCAA and most of the personnel involved in refuelling are untrained.

“Therefore, we call on the NCAA as a matter of urgency to consider establishing a Standard fuel laboratory, ensure only Licensed fuellers operate in the industry, and should intensify efforts in oversighting the fuel tank farms.”