There are concerns in the Aviation Industry that operators may be fueling aircraft with contaminated aviation fuel, or even kerosene as a substitute.

This follows the alarm raised, that some petroleum marketers might have been selling household kerosene which shares some physical and chemical properties with aviation fuel to airline operators.

In a circular to both domestic and foreign airline operators, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority NCAA referred to an alert letter from the European Aviation Safety Agency about the discovery of a contaminant in the fuel metering unit of an aircraft engine.

The NCAA says, is “based on the information provided by the engine manufacturer Rolls Royce to the EASA the contaminant known as Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) may have been introduced during fueling uploads in Lagos Nigeria.

NCAA warns that fuel containing SAP is not considered suitable for aircraft engine operations and likely to damage the engine, with deadly consequences.

The aviation regulator says it is investigating the matter, and has therefore advised airline operators that have experienced service difficulty to submit among other things, troubleshooting report and the aviation fuel supplier.

They are also to submit to NCAA their last audit report on the aviation fuel supplier. (Channels TV)