A foremost Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) licensed Aircraft Dispatcher and Ground Instructor, Mrs. Victoria Adegbe, has called for a review of the laws guiding Charter Flight Operations so that Aircraft Dispatchers can be mandated to ensure safety.
Featuring as the only speaker representing West and North Africa at the 6th Safety in African Aviation Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda on September 13 -14, 2018, she stated that the safety rule in commercial aviation was the aircraft dispatcher, however in the case of Charter flights; the dispatcher only has delegated functions but not responsibilities that ensure safety.
She noted that the law guiding General Aviation, which applies to Charter Flights, should henceforth be reviewed to include Aircraft Dispatch responsibilities, that is, in her words; “if we are serious about the issue of Aviation safety.”
Participants at the conference were astounded with her shocking revelations attesting to the fact that safety is only possible in aviation with the Aircraft Dispatcher sharing equal and joint responsibility with the pilot for every flight.
To this end therefore, Mrs. Adegbe urged Civil Aviation Authorities in Africa and beyond to Consider, Adopt, and Ensure that such a recommendation is enforced in the interest of safety in the African skies and further afield.
Mrs. Victoria Adegbe is the CEO of Inselnetworks, an Abuja based aviation consultancy and training firm. She was the first female dispatcher to be employed by Arik Air and author of several books including; “Dispatch Made Easy-An Aircraft Dispatch Handbook 1st and 2nd Editions” (available on Amazon and Smashwords), “Atami” (An Igala Epic tale); and very recently published in the United States by AuthorHouse, the daring and seemingly controversial book titled, “Pilots Are Idiots” which is purely on Aviation safety.
She is also the editor in chief of Aviatrix.com.ng, an aviation magazine from a woman’s perspective and laced with humour as well as owns a blog at insidevickysworld.com. Victoria is a graduate of University of Jos, Department of Geo/Planning, where she obtained a BSC in Geography. She also trained as a Broadcaster at Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, Training School in Shogunle, Lagos.
Safety in African Aviation Conference is an AviAssist Foundation initiative and Co-sponsored by aviation giants such as KLM, Emirates, ATR, RwandaAir, Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Amsterdam Schipol, Flight Data Services, Twiga Aero Bangkok, Aviadev, Aviation Projects Australia, Ground Handling International, ICAO and IATA among many others.
