The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has lifted the ban on the controversial Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and given it the approval to once again begin operation in Nigeria’s airspace.

The American aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, grounded the aircraft with two major accidents involving the aircraft type which led to the death of many passengers over two years ago.

The two accidents involved the Indonesia Lion Air which crashed into the Java sea and while the second accident involved an Ethiopian Airlines which not quite long after takeoff with the two killings of over 500 souls.

Consequently, the Nigerian government through the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika like the governments of many nations placed a ban on the use of Boeing 737 MAX in the nation’s airspace.

The lifting of the ban on the aircraft according to the NCAA in a statement signed by the Director-General, Captain Musa Nuhu took effective 12th February 2021.

Speaking, the Director-General Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Musa Nuhu declared that NCAA recognises the joint review of the Boeing 737 MAX Safety System as carried out by a Joint Authority Technical Review (JATR) that comprised International Aviation Authorities such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Transport Canada (TC) and the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority amongst others on the Boeing 737 MAX safety system alongside FAA and NASA.

“Consequently, the FAA released documents on Boeing 737 Flight Standardisation Board Report, Revision 17, identifying special pilot training for the 737 MAX and Safety Alert for Operators.”

The NCAA DG listed actions required of all foreign and domestic operators to include that, 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 aircraft into Nigeria must submit evidence of compliance with the FAA AD 2020-24-02.

Captain Nuhu assured that the NCAA will continue to ensure strict compliance to safety regulations as violations would be viewed seriously.