Daily Independent Online.
*
Friday, July 02, 2004.
NAMA raises aviation standards
The
Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has sustained safety records in the
past four years of its existence with the provision of quality air navigation
services in the country. Aviation Correspondent, Rotimi Durojaiye,
reports that this is attributed to the introduction of modern radar technology
into the air space
Widely
noticeable inadequacies in the operations of the former Nigerian Airports
Authority (NAA) had, in August 1995, prompted Air Vice-Marshal Nsikak Eduok
(rtd), then aviation minister, to merge its functions with that of the then
Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA).
Eduok
had stated then that the decision was informed by large-scale fraud and
indiscipline prevalent among top officials of the agencies, as well as the need
to raise the nation’s aviation standards to noble heights by creating an
“autonomous airport system”.
Perhaps,
the endless list of air mishaps best exemplified the rot and inadequate state
of the nation’s aviation in the 80s and the 90s. The trend, which started
in 1969, got to an alarming peak in November 1996 with the unprecedented death
of 143 passengers and crew of Aviation Development Company’s (ADC) flight
D86, which crashed at Ejinrin near Epe, Lagos State.
Prior
to that, records showed that 18 major air mishaps and 73 minor accidents were
recorded between 1969 and the first half of 1996.
A
preliminary report of the VR-BLJ aircraft, which crashed in Jos, in June 1996,
killing the then Kano State military administrator, Colonel Abdullahi Wase and
11 others, traced the cause to deficiencies in navigation, communication and
handling facilities. Other causes, the report revealed, were traceable to inadequate manpower and
incorrect use of Notice To Airmen (NOTAMS).
Besides
obsolete equipment, administrative problems also pigeon-holed the
agency’s activities before the establishment of the Nigerian Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA) in January 2000.
Apart
from the crash of the Executive Airlines Service (EAS) BAC 1-11 aircraft in
Kano on May 4, 2002, killing more than 40 passengers, including the pilot, Captain
Peter Inneh and sports minister, Ishaya Mark Aku, NAMA has sustained safety
records in the past four years. It is responsible for the provision of
navigational facilities (en-route
and airport) air traffic services, Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) and
aeronautical search and rescue.
Speaking
at the 34th annual general meeting of
Nigerian Air Traffic Controller’s Association (NATCA), which took place
last month at Nike Lake Resort Hotel, Enugu, Enugu State, Governor Chimaroke
Nnamani, lauded Nigeria’s air safety records, maintaining that it is
comparable with any other country in the world. He congratulated NAMA for the
near 100 per cent safety records the agency has sustained in the past four
years of its existence.
Former
managing director of the agency, Alhaji Yusufu Mohammed, disclosed at the
meeting that the introduction of total radar coverage has greatly enhanced the
security of the nation’s air space on a 24-hour basis. Mohammed added
then that total radar coverage would eliminate traffic delays and congestions,
as well as reduce operational cost of airlines, stimulate traffic flow and
improve the agency’s revenue profile.
NATCA
President, Joyce Nkemakolam, also expressed appreciation to the Federal
Government for its irrevocable commitment to the introduction of modern
technology into the Nigerian airspace, noting that the government’s steps
were consistent with international trends, standards and practice.
To
meet the established standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation
(ICAO), NAMA recently ended another round of calibration exercise across the
country. The exercise, which was in contract with the Agency for Air Navigation
Safety In Africa (ASECNA), was extended to all the navigational aids in various
airports across the country. Airports calibrated included Yola, Abuja, Enugu,
Owerri, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Bida, Mina, Kaduna, Lagos and Sokoto.
Some
of the airports that were calibrated last year were left out because the
navigational aids were not due for another calibration but those that had low
or broken down facilities and had been repaired had to be calibrated so as to
ensure that the right signals are obtained from them. It was gathered that the
Instrument Landing System (ILS) in Minna Airport is due for commissioning in
December, but was also flight-tested while the Very High Frequency Omni
Directional Radio (VOR) was also scheduled for calibration.
Similarly,
Calabar and Kano Airports were calibrated twice due to the adjustment that were
made. The equipment were ,however, said to have been checked and test-flown by
the calibration experts, certifying that they were up to standard.
Calibration
is a method of checking and adjusting necessary navigational aids on ground to
ensure appropriate signals and
correct the defects caused by mechanical, environmental and solar
energy. It is usually carried out between three and six months.
President
of Nigerian Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Captain Ekong
Ufot Ubong, commended NAMA for repositioning the Nigerian airspace, but alerted the agency of the danger
posed by the indiscriminate mounting of communication masts by private
operators and corporate bodies operating.
He
specifically listed Ibadan flight path, as having the highest concentration of
the obstructing communication masts. Ubong’s alarm came on the heels of
the recent NCAA ultimatum to operators of some illegal high-rise masts in the
country to pull down such masts or face the wrath of the authority.
Founder
of the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative, Captain Jerry Agbeyegbe, also said
since the inception of NAMA, it has been the most effective and least controversial
of the aviation parastatals, adding that the new management headed by Emperor
Onasanya, is expected to sustain and build upon the laudable track records. He
urged the new management to work together and embrace the future with a bold
new spirit of commitment to professional excellence.
At
the take-off of NAMA, it was faced with the task of addressing the
infrastructure deficiencies, which culminated in the blacklisting of the
Nigerian airspace by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and some international
organisations, such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and
the International Federation of Airline Pilots Association (IFALPA).
Within
the past four years, NAMA has procured a total of 19 Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), 19 Distance Measuring
Equipment (DME), 20 Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Radio Range (VORS), 10
Non-Directional Beacons (NDBS), 10 Locator Beacons (LBS) and five Very High
Direction Finders (VDF).
The
agency began the introduction of Area Control Services on a phased approach,
first in the Kano Flight Information Region (KFIR) in 2001. The Lagos sector
effectively took off in 2002. These were said to have enabled the agency to
provide Air Traffic Control Services to en route traffic.
The
introduction of Area Control Centres (ACCs) in Lagos and Kano has also made it
possible for NAMA to achieve a 10-mimute longitudinal separation in the upper
airspace within the Flight Information region (FIR). With the successful
resuscitation of the Lagos-Abuja Radars, the agency has commenced Radar
Vectoring (Separation) of air traffic in Lagos and Abuja. This has almost
completely eliminated traffic congestions in these areas, which used to be a
major source of concern even to the general public.
Onasanya could not be reached for
comments at press time, but experts in the industry are of the view that the
agency has addressed many imbalances of the past, which hitherto made air
mishaps in the country almost a commonplace event.
