…Still on contaminated aviation fuel

Safety of air transport in Nigeria is at present facing challenges because of the ongoing controversy over the sad news of contaminated aviation fuel otherwise known as Jet A1.

From all indications, the oil marketers, who in an attempt to get the commodity off their stock, decided to sell it at cheaper prices to Nigerian airlines, imported the adulterated fuel into the country.

This illegality on the part of the marketers is responsible for one of the reasons that caused the suspension of all the Boeing aircraft in the fleet of Max Air recently when a viral video posted on the social media revealed how water was being drained out of one the aircraft engines.

Since the revelation, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has swung into action by meeting all the relevant principal actors including the marketers to probe the source of the adulterated fuel.

As expected, the latest illegality on the part of the oil marketers which was not the first of its kind, has dangerously put the domestic airline business on the front burner in a bad way following the different interpretations being given to the issue.

While all hands are on deck to see how the NCAA intends to deal with this wicked way of doing business by some of the marketers, at the end of the day it will be suicidal if no culprit is punished for this dangerous incident.

The need for the NCAA to see to the end of this menace becomes pertinent because the information  making the rounds have shown that a large quantity of the contaminated fuel have been imported into Nigeria waiting to be dispensed to the airlines for use.

The situation becomes scary for not only the air travellers but to the entire sector in view of the danger the use of adulterated aviation fuel can cause to safety of an aircraft.

It is known in the aviation circle that adulteration in fuel systems can pose among others very serious implications to the engine of an aircraft, ranging from clogging of fuel filters, blocking of fuel supply to the engine and corrosion in the fuel cells and even fuel system components of an aircraft engine.

Again, the aircraft engines do not run on water or anything other than what they are designed to burn, therefore, water contamination of fuel that turns to ice can cause a blockage to an aircraft’s fuel system and engine can lead to rough performance or worse, complete failure, leading to a forced landing or crash.

Water does not only promote corrosion in the fuel system components, when heavy water is present, it can form ice crystals which freeze at low temperatures, clogging fuel lines, filters and components and putting the fuel supply to the engine at risk as well as the engine itself.

In view of the attendant consequences the presence of adulterated fuel can have on an aircraft engines and for the obvious fact that the low quality fuel must have been sold to many airlines, the country at large should expect more similar cases of Max Air.

At the same time, the domestic airlines, particularly their quality assurance personnel and even the pilots, should be conscious of the quality of fuel being loaded into their aircraft engines.

It is better to ground an aircraft with contaminated fuel than taking the risk of embarking on any journey that may end up in calamity.

As it is presently, the aviation authorities, particularly the NCAA and the airlines should acknowledge the fact that they have a very dangerous case at hand that must be thoroughly addressed in order to save people’s lives from a group of desperate killer-oil marketers who are only interested in making money from the blood of others.

The contradiction in this menace is manifested in the sense that this dangerous trend does not affect the foreign airlines which also patronise some of these Nigerian oil marketers.

The questions on the lips of many include why the marketers don’t sell toxic fuel to foreign but to the domestic carriers; is it that the domestic carriers are indebted to them or is it that the foreign carriers are more vigilant with the quality of fuel they load into the engines.

All these posers need to be investigated by the aviation authorities because if the foreign airlines that buy fuel from Nigeria hardly complain of contaminated fuel, that may mean there are some undercuts going on within the circle of the marketers.

The oil marketers should however realise that if they continue with this dangerous trend, it will get to a time that even the foreign airlines they are given preferential services will no longer trust their commodity and subsequently shift their patronage to neighbouring countries to refuel.

At the end of the day, it will be as bad as any attempt by the oil marketers to push the airlines, including the domestic ones to start refueling in other countries which will definitely put the travellers at the receiving end of having to pay higher fares.

To prevent all these avoidable crises, let the regulatory authorities fish out the undesirable elements among the oil marketers and withdraw their licences.