Chinedu Eze
Experts in the aviation industry have attributed the many incidents involving private jet operations in Nigeria to laxity in safety regulation, and have warned against it to avoid air mishap.
They warned that if the seeming complacency in safety regulation continues, the country may witness more serious accidents that will damage the reputation of the country as a safe operational environment.
On Thursday, October 15, 20026, a Triton Aviation Challenger jet lost an entire cabin door mid-flight over Abuja before returning for an emergency landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
In recent years, Nigeria, known for its strict regulation of commercial airlines, has recorded many incidents and accidents involving private jets and helicopters, which include the Flint Aero HS125 accident in Ibadan on November 3, 2023; the Challenger CL-601 runway overrun in Ibadan on January 26, 2024 and the Bombardier Challenger 604 door separation in Abuja on October 15, 2026, involving Triton Aviation.
There is also the Eastwind Aviation Sikorsky Crash in Finima near Bonny in October 2024; the Quorum Aviation Bell 206B3 that crashed into residential building in Lagos in 2016 and the Bristow Helicopters Sikorsky S-76C that was ditched in the Atlantic Ocean in February 2016. Some of these accidents recorded fatalities, especially those involving helicopters.
Industry experts attribute it to the flexibility given to private jet operators and poor regulatory oversight by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Industry consultant and former Rector of the College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Captain Samuel Caulcrick, told THISDAY that commercial airlines on schedule service face stringent regulatory scrutiny than those in general or business aviation.
“There is a critical structural reality in the aviation industry, whereby commercial passengers disproportionately subsidise the operational costs of the shared aviation infrastructure; hence it receives more scrutiny from the regulator than private jets. While all civil aircraft remain subject to strict safety, airworthiness, and competency regulations, the funding mechanisms and regulatory oversight frameworks differ drastically between commercial airlines and business aviation,” Caulcrick said.
He said that commercial carriers fund regulatory bodies like the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the local civil aviation authorities (such as the NCAA in Nigeria) directly through percentage-based Ticket Sales Charges (TSC) and passenger facility fees. But on the other hand, private business jets do not sell tickets. They primarily contribute to the ecosystem through a flat-rate fuel tax and minimal landing fees.
The former rector therefore observed that the revenue gap was that private flights represented roughly seven per cent of total air traffic but contribute only 0.6 per cent of tax revenues into systems like the FAA trust fund, “in our own case, the TSA contribution to the aviation ecosystem in Nigeria.”
Caulcrick thus observed that the regulatory scrutiny differences of the funding gap directly impact on how both sectors are policed under global civil aviation guidelines.
In other words, the regulatory authority pays less attention to business aviation where less revenue is generated from by the regulators than in commercial aviation, where more money is generated from.
“Commercial aviation (Scheduled public transport): operates under ultra-strict commercial rule sets (like FAA Part 121 or EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) equivalent). Regulatory bodies exert relentless scrutiny over crew rest cycles, mandatory maintenance intervals, and standard operating procedures because they are protecting the fare-paying public.
“Business aviation (private operations) typically operates under more flexible private frameworks (like FAA Part 91) or our Permit for Non-Commercial Flights (PNCF), under Part 18 of NigCARs (Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations). Because the flights serve internal corporate needs without offering the service for hire or reward, regulators allow flight departments greater autonomy over scheduling, route flexibility, and pilot hiring, though they must still maintain basic civilian airworthiness certificates,” Caulcrick observed.
Speaking in similar vein, industry stakeholder and CEO of Centurion Security and Safety Consult, Group Captain John Ojukutu (retired) said the disengaging door incident would be a second time that a foreign registered aircraft flown by foreign crew would have default flight in the Nigeria.
He asked: Does the NCAA has the proof of the crew certified licence and the airworthiness of the aircraft? What has been the result of the report of the foreign aircraft, flown by foreign crew that flew to a different location other than the airport (Asaba) on its flight plan?
“My take, at this time of unstable global threats to the civil aviation environment and coupled with our homegrown threats, we need to be more careful with the movement of the number of the private foreign registered aircraft in the country which together are more than the Nigerian registered aircraft. No foreign registered aircraft should be allowed to be moving round the country beyond its Customs entry airport without a security clearance and beyond the time limit of the security clearance except the foreign registered aircraft deregistered to Nigerian registration,” Ojikutu advised.
He suggested that the private jet operators who engage in charter services may not have been strictly subjected to the regulation and that is why there is high record of incidents that have remained unabated.
“Right now, there are complaints from the domestic airlines that seats in the first/business classes are empty because governors, senior government/corporate officials are patronising these private aircraft operators. The NCAA must ensure that the operators meet the required Nig CARs Safety and Security before they operate any commercial services which many, I doubt. Their operations into Commercial Services, is an intrution into the markets of the domestic airlines and this sure contributes to the debts of the airlines to the government agencies and the ground services providers,” Ojikutu said.
However, reacting to the major incident and the observations of people in the aviation industry, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Michael Achimugu, told THISDAY that the agency remained effective in regulating the industry, which explains why there have been no too many incidents and accidents.
“The overall results of the NCAA’s regulatory performance, speaks for itself. Nigeria’s record of incidents is very low, compared to most other top nations. Incidents must happen, no matter how perfect any CAA is. Look at the volume of serious incidents in the USA and Canada, where International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is domiciled. Machines are built by humans and there will be accidents. If anything, it is the NCAA’s performance that has kept the figures and fatalities very minimal. When unforeseen incidents occur, it gives us the opportunity to strengthen and adjust,” Achimugu said.