The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has advised pilots and airline operators to exercise caution over hazardous weather during the rainy season.
This warning 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 NCAA Director-General, Captain Musa Nuhu.
The circular came on the advent of the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) released for the year 2022 by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
NIMET had predicted early late March as the commencement of the rainy season across the Southern states, and that April/May and June 2022 will be the onset of the rainy season in the Central and Northern parts of Nigeria.
According to NIMET: “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 the safety of flight operations. With the issuance of this circular, Advisory Circular (AC): NCAA – AEROMET 32 is accordingly cancelled.
The circular, therefore, enumerated some conditions as the responsibility of air traffic controllers to take in the interest of safety. The conditions included: that Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) can temporarily close the airspace when hazardous weather conditions such as severe thunderstorms, squall lines microburst or level wind-shear are forecast by NIMET.
Also enumerated are a series of responsibilities for Pilots and Flight Crews/Operators which declared that: Flight Crews/Operators and ATCs shall ensure strict adherence to aerodrome operating minima and that 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, 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.”
NCAA, therefore, urged all passengers to exercise patience and understanding during this period as “their safety is of utmost importance, stakeholders should ensure strict compliance to safety regulations as violations would be viewed seriously.”
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Revealed! Details Of South-West APC Leaders Meeting With Presidential Aspirants
MORE revelations have emerged about Friday’s meeting held by South-West leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with aspirants from the zone, whose main objective, was on how to avert a crisis that will create a fractured party as it prepares for primary on May 30 and 31, Sunday Tribune has reliably gathered…NCAA cautions pilots, airlines over hazardous weather
Supreme Court Has Cleared Civil Servants To Participate In Politics, Falana Tells FG
NIGERIAN workers are constitutionally-free to participate in politics, lawyer, Mr Femi Falana has said. He was responding to the warning from the central government to civil servants to stay off politics…NCAA cautions pilots, airlines over hazardous weather
and then