1.2 Cabin Crew Licence: Eligibility, the 14 Knowledge Subjects & NCAA Testing
Key Takeaways
- Nig. CARs 2.5.1.3(a) requires an applicant to be at least 18, able to read, write, speak and understand English, to meet the knowledge, experience and competency requirements, and to have completed an initial training course from an AOC holder or ATO within the 12 months preceding application.
- Nig. CARs 2.5.1.3(c) lists fourteen knowledge subjects, from Air Law through to Hygiene, Aviation Medicine and First Aid — this list is the official examination syllabus.
- A knowledge test must have been passed within the 24 calendar months preceding the month in which the skill test is completed, and the Authority specifies the minimum passing grades rather than publishing them in the regulation.
- The skill test is observed by the Authority and covers firefighting, aircraft evacuation and water survival or ditching drills, with detail in the CAA Skill Test Standards for Cabin Crew.
- Published NCAA fees are ₦10,000 for the Air Law examination, ₦10,000 for each Aircraft Specific Cabin Crew examination, ₦50,000 for a skill test per rating and ₦30,000 for initial licence issuance.
The four general eligibility conditions
Nig. CARs 2.5.1.3(a) sets out what every applicant for a cabin crew licence and any associated rating must satisfy:
- Be at least 18 years of age. There is no upper age limit in Part 2 for cabin crew.
- Demonstrate the ability to read, write, speak and understand the English language. Note the wording carefully. Part 2 does not impose an ICAO language proficiency rating on cabin crew. The NCAA fee schedule confirms this: language proficiency endorsements are chargeable on flight crew, ATC and ASO licences, not on the cabin crew licence.
- Comply with the knowledge, experience and competency requirements prescribed for the licence and rating sought.
- Have completed an initial training course from either an AOC holder or an ATO within the 12 months preceding the date of application. This is a hard shelf-life. A candidate who completes an ab-initio course and then waits fourteen months before applying has an expired course.
Medical fitness is dealt with separately at 2.5.1.3(b): the applicant shall hold a Class 2 medical certificate issued under Part 2. This is covered in the next section.
The fourteen knowledge subjects — the real syllabus
Nig. CARs 2.5.1.3(c) requires the applicant to receive and pass ground training from an authorised instructor on the subjects below, appropriate to the privileges of the licence and the aircraft type rating(s) sought. Candidates frequently study a generic international cabin-crew syllabus and are then surprised by questions on weight and balance or tropical hygiene. Both are on this list.
| # | Knowledge subject | Representative content in the regulation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air Law | Rules and regulations relevant to the holder of a cabin crew licence |
| 2 | Theory of flight and aircraft operations | Theory of flight, major components, critical surfaces (contamination), pressurisation, weight and balance, meteorology/turbulence, physiology of flight (oxygen system and use, effects of altitude, cabin poisoning) |
| 3 | Aircraft equipment and furnishings | Crew stations and panels, passenger seats, passenger service units and convenience panels, information signs, markings, placards, bassinets and bayonet tables |
| 4 | Aircraft systems | Air conditioning and pressurisation, communication (call, interphone, passenger address), lighting and electrical, oxygen (flight crew, observer, passenger), water, entertainment and convenience systems |
| 5 | Aircraft exits | General information; exits with slides or slide rafts, exits without slides and window exits, in preflight and normal operation |
| 6 | Crew member communication and co-ordination | Authority of the PIC, routine communication signals and procedures, crew member briefing |
| 7 | Routine crew member duties and procedures | Eleven phases from reporting for duty through pre-departure, boarding, surface movement, take-off, in flight, landing, arrival and intermediate stops |
| 8 | Passenger handling responsibilities | Infants, children and unaccompanied minors; special assistance and accommodation; carry-on stowage; seating requirements; no-smoking requirements |
| 9 | Cabin crew emergency procedures training syllabi | Emergency equipment, emergency communication and notification systems, exits in emergency operation, tailcone and cockpit exits, ground evacuation and ditching equipment, first aid equipment, oxygen systems including PBE, firefighting equipment, emergency lighting |
| 10 | Cabin crew emergency procedure duties | Fifteen items: crew coordination, emergency signals, rapid decompression, insidious decompression and cracked windows, fires, ditching, ground evacuation, unwarranted evacuation, illness or injury, abnormal situations, hijacking and unlawful interference, bomb threat, turbulence, other unusual situations, previous accidents and incidents |
| 11 | Aircraft specific emergency drills | Emergency exit, fire and smoke, emergency oxygen, flotation device, ditching, life raft removal and inflation, slide raft pack transfer, slide or slide raft deployment and detachment, evacuation slide |
| 12 | Carriage of dangerous goods | General philosophy, limitations, prohibited goods, package marking and labelling, exceptions, emergency procedures, dangerous goods in passengers' baggage |
| 13 | Human factors | Fundamental human factor concepts; crew resource management |
| 14 | Hygiene, aviation medicine and first aid | Terminology, personal hygiene, tropical hygiene, transmissible diseases, quarantinable diseases, epidemic diseases, food poisoning, first-aid kits, medical kits, universal precaution kits, automated external defibrillators |
Knowledge testing
Under 2.5.1.3(d) the applicant must hold an endorsement for the knowledge test from an authorised instructor who both conducted the training on the knowledge subjects and certifies that the person is prepared, and must then pass the required knowledge test on those subjects.
The general testing rules in Part 2 add four practical conditions:
- The applicant needs written authorisation from the Authority to take, or retake, a test.
- Government-issued photographic identification showing signature, date of birth and residential address must be produced.
- The Authority will specify the minimum passing grades. Nig. CARs does not print a pass mark for the cabin crew paper; treat any figure quoted by a training provider as that provider's information rather than a published regulatory value.
- The knowledge test must have been passed within the 24-calendar-month period preceding the month in which the applicant successfully completes the skill test. Pass the written paper too early and it lapses before the practical.
- On failure, retesting is not time-barred but is training-barred: the applicant must first receive further training from an authorised instructor who determines the applicant is proficient, and obtain that instructor's endorsement.
Skill test, experience and privileges
2.5.1.3(e) requires a competency test on the aircraft type used in commercial air transport, and the Authority observes the applicant demonstrate practical skill and safety emergency procedures — the regulation names firefighting, aircraft evacuation and water survival/ditching drills. Detailed requirements are in the CAA Skill Test Standards (STS) for Cabin Crew. 2.5.1.3(f) requires documentary evidence of the experience or training required.
Privileges (2.5.1.3(g)): to exercise the privileges of the licence in an aircraft within the appropriate aircraft rating(s), and to act as cabin crew in an aircraft within the appropriate type(s) in operations other than commercial air transport.
What it costs
From the NCAA Schedule of Fees and Charges (April 2023, Amendment 4):
| Item | Fee (₦) |
|---|---|
| Air Law examination (all licences) | 10,000 |
| Aircraft Specific Cabin Crew examination, per aircraft | 10,000 |
| Skill test, all licences, per rating | 50,000 |
| Medical certificate on ATC and Cabin Crew licences | 10,000 |
| Cabin Crew Licence — initial issuance | 30,000 |
| Cabin Crew Licence — renewal | 20,000 |
| Cabin Crew Licence — re-issuance or replacement | 30,000 |
| Endorsement, each | 10,000 |
The fee schedule confirms the examination structure that Nigerian crew describe in practice: an Air Law paper plus an aircraft-specific paper for each type. A first licence with one type therefore attracts ₦10,000 + ₦10,000 in examination fees — which is why Nigerian ATOs commonly quote about ₦20,000 for "NCAA exams" in their course-cost breakdowns.
An applicant passed the NCAA cabin crew knowledge test in March 2024 and is scheduled for the skill test in June 2026. What is the effect on the application?
Which of these is expressly listed among the fourteen knowledge subjects for the Nigerian cabin crew licence in Nig. CARs 2.5.1.3(c)?
A candidate fails the NCAA cabin crew knowledge test. Under Part 2, what must happen before a retake?