Please tell this is not true?


Nigerian pilots use GSM phones to contact Control Tower
Written by Kenneth Ehigiator
Saturday, March 29, 2008

THESE are not the best of time for the aviation industry in Nigeria. The missing Beechcraft 1900 D has provoked the discussion about the safety of the aviation industry. Coming at a time sagging public confidence in air travel was restored, the missing Beechcraft 1900D aircraft operated by a charier operator, Wings Aviation has raised questions about the safety of the nation’s airspace.

More often than not, relevant aviation authorities have never held back from telling the public that the airspace was safe for flight operations, especially in view of what appeared to be government’s attention on the sector for the first time in many years.

The attention came in the form of the N19.5 billion intervention fund, which spending had generated so much controversy in the past months. However, Vanguard’s encounter with a pilot in the heat of the search for the missing plane revealed that a lot of question marks still hover around the safety of the airspace.


According to the pilot, who preferred anonymity, “pilots fly blind during much of the duration of flights within the country, specially on flights to the Northern parts of the country”.


The pilot said radio communications with ground control tower was not only epileptic, but also completely non-existent in some cases. Things can really go bad that you have no option but to use your GSM phone to try and reach air traffic controllers on duty,” he said. Some of these problem areas, known as ‘black spots’ were first identified in 2006 by pilots and the authorities promised to address the problem. Vanguard learnt that most of the radio communication equipment belonging to Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) have become so outdated that they have packed up. Sources close to the agency said some of the equipment in question were installed over decades ago and have not been replaced due to the agency’s financial constraints. For a pilot flying at a speed of over 700km/hour, using the GSM phone to reach controllers is a distraction which is inimical to safety. “Sometimes, you try and you cannot get through due to network problem, and at that point you fly blind until you are able to regain contact,” the pilot added. Beyond pilot to controller contacts, there is also the problem of reaching one airport in the country to another as a result of the same pitfall.

Close observers of the industry noted that much of the decay identified by the Air Marshall Paul Dike’s Presidential Committee, set up in the aftermath of Bellview and Sosoliso Airlines’ crashes, were still prevalent, and made case not only for more funding from the government but also for a probe into how the N19.5 billion intervention fund released for upgrade of facilities was spent by relevant aviation agencies. While pilots are lamenting the inadequacies of navigational facilities for seamless flights, airline operators on their part are counting their losses on account of the same problem. It was learnt that because the radar in most of the airports in the country were not in serviceable state, air traffic controllers have devised the means of separating aircraft only by horizontal methods to avoid collision. While it is more convenient for the controllers to do so because of their inability to separate vertically as a result of absence of radar or where available, ineffective, operators are counting their losses in the volume of fuel consumed by aircraft in the form of added time the aircraft spent in thee air flying horizontally.


A pilot confirmed that as a result of the problem, he now covers in 90 minutes a journey he should have spent 60 minutes. He continued: “What you have now is a situation where air traffic controllers separates aircraft horizontally to avoid collision. To do this, so many aircraft are spread in the air at the same time and to avoid collision, we are made to go round and round to get to your destination. Consequently, you spend much more time that you would have spent to arrive at your destination.” He said the situation could get very bad and precarious if remedies were not effected before the heavy rains come. An operator, who craved anonymity, said airlines were the only entities keeping the aviation industry in the country going, adding that the parastatals who ought to be service providers have failed the sector. He noted that there were some airports in Nigeria where some airlines have taken it upon themselves to provide facilities to pave way for their operations into such airports. “Look, our airport charges are about the highest in the world and yet you don’t get value for money. We are going through a lot to be able to fly in this country. We, as airlines, have always been responsible; for once, let the agencies show that they are also responsible,” said the operator, who advised the Minister of Air Transport, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyat, to be mindful of his officials in the ministry and parastatals to avoid being misled.

Experts believe that the nation could have been spared all these agony had succeeding governments in the country invested in the sector, considered the very key to jump-starting the economy for growth. According to them, the total radar coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) embarked upon by Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) in 2003 would have addressed all of these had it been completed and deployed into full use. With TRACON, the nation’s entire airspace is covered and air traffic control is made seamless, as the equipment is fitted with both primary and secondary radar system that do not only facilitate air traffic control, but also ensure that any object that strays into the airspace anywhere in the country is detected. NAMA’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Supo Atobatele, who confirmed that his agency was having problems with radio communication with pilots in the Northern region of the country, on take off from Lagos, said the agency was addressing the problem. He said the problem had been a recurring one for NAMA, adding, that informed the reason it recently acquired 15 VHP radio communication equipment to nip the problem in the bud. According to him, the equipment will be installed very shortly. “ We are aware of the problem, but we are addressing it. Don’t forget that the existing radio equipment have been there for decades and because past governments have never really shown interests in the development of the aviation sector, we are where we are. But what is important is we are addressing the issue,” He said NAMA was determined to make the airspace a friendly one for all users, but lamented the drawback paucity of funds was causing the agency. Atobatele made reference to TRACON which the agency, in its determination to make things better, started in 2003, but couldn’t be completed due to lack of finance, compounded by frequent change of the agency’s chief executives. The NAMA spokesman said the agency had so far expended over N27 million Euros on the project, while it needed about 40 million Euros more to complete the project meant to be installed at the nation’s four international airports - Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, with the entire nation as its scope of coverage.

Some experts advised government to take proactive steps now to redress the situation before the raining season comes fully as, according to him, the impact of inadequate navigational facilities is felt more during the wet season, accompanied with bad and storming weather, than the dry season. This piece becomes more germane because of the inability of the Nigerian pilot to look at his employer in the face and tell him he won’t fly in adverse conditions because of absence of viable platform for them to voice their frustrations against the system. In other words, airline operators have made unionisation an unpardonable crime for pilots in their employ. To that extent, they can neither fight anti-labour practices by their employers nor challenge openly pitfalls in the industry.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/mar/29/302.html

It is so true!
What a shame!!!

Somebody should send this link to Fani Kayode and others,