NCAA Staff concludes Technical Assistance to Sierra Leone

Representatives from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority have concluded their technical assistance mission to Sierra Leone following a two weeks working session with the Personnel Licensing (PEL) and Aero Medical Section (AMS) Departments of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA).

The objective of the technical assistance mission to Sierra Leone was to review progress made on Corrective Action Plan (CAP) based on the Needs Assessment Report on Personnel Licensing and Aero Medical Section, review and update Sierra Leone PEL State Aviation Activity Questionnaire (SAAQ) on the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program Continuous Monitoring Approach – Online Framework.

In his presentation, the General Manager of Aero Medical Standards Dr Wilfred T. Haggai highlighted the mandate of the technical assistance which included setting up all PEL and AMS activities for the SLCAA.

“In May this year, we conducted needs assessment to see where the SLCAA was, in respect to PEL and AMS. When we arrived here two weeks ago, we met some of the recommendations we made had already been accomplished. This is just a preliminary report, as the team will send the final report in due course,” he said.

Dr Haggai added, “We reviewed the system and discovered that the SLCAA Management had initiated process to implement some of the needs assessment of which the recruitment of additional of PEL and AMS Inspectors in line with Critical Element four (CE-4) has been achieved, and scheduling a PEL officer for ICAO Government Safety Inspector (GSI) PEL course in line with CE-4 will be carried out in ten days to ensure that qualification process is not hampered,”* he said.

In highlighting the improvements made, he mentioned that during the course of the mission the team completed and updated the Compliance Checklists which formed part of Annex 1 in line with Critical Element two (CE-2), and due to the immense work done the current compliance status of the SLCAA is at 54.9%. The team leader further commented on the completion of the designation process for the first Aero Medical Examiner in Sierra Leone,  in line with Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Regulations (SLCARs) and the newly developed Technical Guidance Materials (TGMs), including the appointment of Chief Medical Assessor to the SLCAA.

“On adoption and adaptation of PEL and AMS Technical Guidance Materials (CE-5), a total of 33 Chapters of PEL TGMs including forms and checklists were developed in line with Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Regulations (SLCARs) covering all the PEL activities, and a total of 13 Chapters of AMS Technical Guidance Materials including applicable forms and checklists were developed in line with SLCARs covering all Aero Medical activities. All the above await DG Baio’s approval,” he said.

For future activities, Dr. Haggai recommended that immediate review of the SLCARs, issue copies of new PEL TGMs,  circulate approved Advisory Circulars to the industry especially those related to Air Traffic Controllers Licensing,  and On the Job Training (OJT) for PEL Inspectors. He emphasized the need for more training for staff of PEL department.

The Director General of SLCAA, Moses Tiffa Baio thanked the team and expressed appreciation for their hard work and commitment to developing PEL and AMS departments. He also commended the Director General of NCAA for answering the call to assist Sierra Leone under the ICAO spirit of *”No Country Left Behind”*.  He urged the team to continue providing the necessary support for the growth of PEL and AMS. DG Baio concluded by assuring the team that the PEL officers of SLCAA will be sent on On the Job Training in addition to other beneficial training.