With the acquisition of more airplanes for training and further training, and recruitment of more instructors, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria is now prepared to tackle the protracted dearth of manpower in the aviation industry.
Over the years the industry has relied on expatriate personnel to fill most of the technical areas of the air transport sector, like pilots and engineers. NCAT said it is now equipped to train more pilots, engineers, marshallers, dispatchers, air traffic controllers and others.
The Rector of the College, Captain Chinyere Kalu, said that the school has increased its training equipment and is still planning to acquire more training airplanes.
“When we have more equipment we will be able to train more pilots. We started our training in Minna, Niger state. We are even planning to start training even in Lagos and possibly in Abuja. When we are able to expand our training programmes, we will be able to increase the number of pilots and engineers that graduate every year. We have also acquired simulators, which will reduce training and graduating time for pilots,” Kalu said.
The Rector said the school is looking forward to the time it would graduate a student flying course in one year.
“In the past it used to take us an average of three years to graduate a pilot, but we took in a class in 2012 and by the middle of 2013 we were be done with them, an estimated time of one and half years. But we want to reduce that one and half to one year. By reducing the length of training and increasing equipment, as well as making adequate use of the simulators, we will be able to reduce the time for training.”
Kalu said that the school would soon have equipment like instrument landing system (ILS), night facilities such as the airfield lighting at the College runway so that the school could train students at night in order to shorten the duration of training.
When this is done, Kalu said the students would no more be taken to the airports in Kano, Kaduna and other airports for further training with its attendant logistics.
“In training at the ground school, we have what we call computer based trainer which we use to accelerate the training of our students so that instead of spending three months on the ground for PPL (Private Pilot Licence), they now spend two months. We have a lot of need for training equipment and we have put everything on the table.”
Kalu said under the present administration the College has acquired Visual Tower Simulator for Air Traffic Control training. Also, a Boeing 737-200 for cabin crew training was also procured in 2013, while more training aircraft, including TBM 850 single engine turbo prop training aircraft and two Bell 2061-iv helicopters were procured last year.
Another commendable milestone recorded in NCAT is the renovated briefing room for pilots, which has been in a deplorable state for many years.
“It has been completely renovated and is now conducive for use during training. Modern lecture rooms which were unavailable in the institution before July 2011 have also been constructed and well furnished. These newly built lecture halls are now currently in use,” said spokesman of aviation parastatals, Yakubu Dati.
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