Increasing incidents of aircraft clipping each other’s wings at aprons, taxi-ways and runways nationwide has become a source of concern to experts, most of who have warned that unless the ugly trend is nipped, air safety may be threatened, KELVIN OSA – OKUNBOR, reports.
Experts in the aviation industry are getting increasingly worried over the recurrence of on-the-ground incidents involving aircraft at major airport runways, taxi -ways and aprons.
The aircraft ground collision is putting aircraft owners under pressure on account of the huge sums spent to fix damaged aircraft at either the apron, ramp , taxi way or runway.
The affected airlines may have spent millions of naira on repairs arising from collision not covered by insurance. At the Lagos Airport, Arik Air, Emirates Airlines, Hak Air, First Nation Airways and other domestic carriers aircraft have been involved in ground collision with the affected airlines’ personnel and airport authority officials trading blames on the cause of such incidents.
This has brought to the fore critical questions bordering on the implementation of safety management systems by the affected airlines as well as the regulatory authority.
Industry watchers are asking questions on what measures are being put in place by the regulator, airport authority and airlines to deploy adequate technology and training of ground personnel to avoid such incidents.
Some experts, including secretary of the Aviation Roundtable ( ART), Group Captain John Ojikutu ( rtd), attributed the rising incidence of ground collision of aircraft to the failure of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to implement safety recommendations by the Accident Investigation Bureau ( AIB).
Ojikutu said unless urgent steps are taken to check the rising incidents of ground collision at the apron, taxi – way and runway, the stage is set for an avoidable accident.
He said though airside incidents are bound to happen, but the relevant authorities, including the airlines, must take urgent steps to learn useful lessons to avoid recurrence.
“The recurring incidents involving aircraft clipping each other’s wings at the apron, taxi-way and runway should be re-examined with the regulatory authority held responsible. The NCAA were doing its job of proper regulation of the industry, why should airlines be experiencing regular ground collision of their aircraft”
According to Ojikutu, rather than taking urgent steps to address the safety challenge, airlines and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) have been shifting blame.
He said:” The recurring incidents involving aircraft clipping each other’s wings at the apron, taxi-way and runway should be re-examined with the regulatory authority held responsible.
If the NCAA were doing its job well, we should not be witnessing such incidents.
The NCAA should be held responsible, that is why we are having incidents of aircraft collision on the apron. If the NCAA were doing its job of proper regulation of the industry, why should airlines be experiencing regular ground collision of their aircraft.
A few years ago when an Arik Air aircraft collided with a Nigerian Air Force plane in Jos Airport, the incident ended up as a blame game.
The NCAA claims that it carries out investigations on aircraft collision, what has happened to previous investigative reports? Where are the accident reports?
After the June, 3, 2012 DANA Air crash, the AIB issued over 150 safety recommendations, but the NCAA did not implement up to 30 per cent of the safety concerns.
Lending his voice to the issue, the President of Association of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Nigeria (AFARN), Kingsley Nwakoma, said if the size of aprons at airports nationwide are not expanded, the industry risks more incidents at the airside.
He said the recurring incidents could be reduced if airsides at airports are illuminated. He accused the airport authority of not doing enough to expand airside infrastructure, which he said is long overdue. He said the facilities put in place many decades ago can no longer contain the size of aircraft on the apron for either passenger or cargo operations.
He said: “I think the authorities are not doing enough to expand apron facilities. This explains the increase in aircraft ground collision. Until urgent steps are taken, the ugly trend may continue.”
AFRAN has, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to begin the expansion of the cargo apron of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. He said the present limited size of the apron is affecting their operations.
Nwokoma said the expansion of the cargo apron was long overdue, after decades of its construction as its current size could not match the scale of their operations.
He said the expansion would generate more revenue for the government, especially at this time, when the price of crude oil is crashing.
Nwokoma said that it was becoming more difficult for wide-bodied planes to land at the airport, as a result of the inability of the government to construct a bigger apron for the airport. He urged the government to address the situation to avoid embarrassment from the international community.
“We have an airline that brings in goods and is directed to park at the international terminal’s tarmac, instead of using the cargo terminal. This is because the cargo apron is so small and we have had issues and incidents involving cargo planes in the past.
“That the cargo apron has not been expanded since the airport was built and inaugurated in March 1979 is an eye sore; we have been crying, calling for this expansion because safety is key here,” he said.
Nwokoma frowned at the abandonment of the cargo by a contractor awarded the contract for its expansion, noting that the facility would be of benefit to the nation.
“This is one of the projects that the government must look into,” he said.
A few weeks ago, a Boeing 777-200LR belonging to Emirates Airline and a domestic airliner a B737-400 owned by HAK Air were involved in ground collision at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Worried over the incident, the AIB deployed a team of investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding it with a view to making safety recommendations. The Emirates Airlines aircraft marked A6-EWD, according to the spokesman of the AIB, Tunji Oketumbi, was taxiing for take-off en-route Dubai when its wing tip cut into the B737-400 HAK aircraft parked on the apron of the domestic wing of the airport.
While the Emirates aircraft had little damage on its wing tip, the HAK Air B737 was damaged substantially.
The Emirates flight was aborted as a result of the accident. A few weeks later, two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways also collided at the Murtala Muhammed Airport. The incident occurred when one of the planes was reportedly taxiing from the runway to MMA2 to drop off passengers while the other was preparing to take off for Port-Harcourt.
Confirming the mishap, the General Manager, Public Affairs of the NCAA, Fan Ndubuoke, said there was no casualty and the incident had been referred to the AIB for further investigation.
However, First Nation Airways blamed officials of the FAAN for the incident. An official of the airline, Rasheed Yusuf, in a statement, said if FAAN officials were diligent the incident would have been avoided.
The airline said: “We wish to clarify the ground incident that occurred on Friday, July 17, 2015. Our Aircraft Registered No. 5N-FND wing tip touched the wing tip of another sister aircraft already parked at another gate. This incident was avoidable if the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria marshallers had been diligent to avoid marshalling the aircraft wrongly.”
He went on:”We urge FAAN to retrain the marshallers as we understand that the marshallers at MMA2 are deployed by FAAN under an MOU with Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, the operator of MMA2, Ikeja. It is important to emphasise that at no time was the safety of passengers at risk.
“The regulatory authorities will also need to enhance oversight of the marshallers and their authorisation to arrest the growing incidents of aircraft damage on ground in Nigeria which is embarrassing. Besides the huge losses that First Nation and other airlines suffered as a result of avoidable ground incidents.You will recall that a similar incident involving Emirate aircraft occurred only a couple of days.”
A few years ago, a Turkish Airline plane wings collided with that of Max Air plane which brought in Pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.
The Turkish Airline plane landed safely but was taxiing to stop at the apron when its wing collided with that of Max Air.
“The collision resulted in minor damages to both airplanes,” according to the report.
Ndubuoke confirmed the incident. He however, said damages to the aircraft belonging to both airlines were minor and that both planes had been taken away for repairs.
According to aviation experts, the global aircraft industry loses up to US$11 billion annually to accidents and incidents on the ground. Experts say commercial aviation, which is a multi-billion dollar industry employs high level technologies to maintain safety standards.
Such current high level of flight safety, experts say, has been achieved by investment in overlapping safety systems such as surface movement radar, altitude transponders and other technology with the aim of preventing a single source error leading to a reduction in safety margins.
However, the same systems, experts say, cannot be utilised to protect the aircraft from collisions during ground operations.
A Nigerian pilot who pleaded not to be named said: “This remains one area where single source human judgment remains unchecked, namely clearance between the aircraft structure and obstacles during aircraft maneuvers on the airport ramp and taxiways.
“A single ground crew member usually makes decisions on safe clearance during “push- back” or a flight crew member during taxiing to and from the standard positions
One of the difficulties in assessing implications of aircraft ground accidents is that the available data is insufficient. ”
Experts have called on the NCAA to furnish the AIB with sufficient information to investigate the recurring trend of aircraft ground collision.
Worried over the trend, the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association ( NATCA) urged government to take a critical look at the reconstruction of the Lagos Central Taxiway, a second Abuja runway, a backup for the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON ) system as well as rehabilitation of airport facilities.
According to its president, Victor Eyaru the taxiway has been out of use for more than six years leading to usage of Eastern taxiway whenever only Runway 18L/36R is available for landing and take-off. He said ground collusions have been recorded whenever wide bodied aircraft make use of the Eastern taxiway
He said :”Aircraft accidents on ground have been recorded more than twice whenever wide bodied aircraft make use of the Eastern taxiway. The most recent was at 2045 UTC on the July 6, 2015 when the Emirate’s aircraft B777 flight UAE784 ran into parked Hak Airline’s aircraft on the apron when FAAN Electrical department switched off lights on the longer Runway 18R/36L for maintenance.”
“The un-serviceability of the same Eastern Taxiway has prevented aircraft from accessing the only Compass Swing available in the airport. We call on government to urgently fix this taxiway to prevent avoidable aircraft accidents on ground and to increase the capacity of the airport.”
As part of measures to fix the sore situation,the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) last week directed owners of abandoned aircraft at the graveyard of the Lagos International Airport to evacuate them to create more space for functional for aircraft for maneuvering at the airside .
According the spokesman of the authority, Mr Yakubu Dati, the action has become necessary due to recurring operational hitches that have been posing serious safety concerns to aircraft and some infrastructure at the terminal.
The director general of NCAA, Captain Mukhtar Usman, has however absolved the regulatory authority of any laxity in the recurrence of incidents.
He said the authority will continue to insist that safety recommendations arising from such incidents are implemented.
He said relevant aviation agencies are collaborating to ensure air safety is not threatened. Ground collision is not restricted to Nigeria.It is a major concern for air safety in other countries including the U.S.
The International Air Transport Association ( IATA) is also worried over the issue.
In a report published in late 2007, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) highlighted that the lack of complete accident data and standards for ground handling hinders the effort to understand the nature, extent and cost of accidents and to improve safety. Investigative agencies only look into certain classes of accidents, and that their data is incomplete, especially in the area of nonfatal injuries.
In 2002, the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) were requested to investigate methods of improving ramp safety. During their research, FSF discovered that the extent of the cost of ground accidents far exceeded expectations due to the hidden nature of indirect costs.
For example, the cost of repair is included in the cost of maintenance, and gate closures, diversion and re-ticketing costs are recorded elsewhere and usually not correlated to the incident. Because accidents also result in cancelled flights, lost ticket revenue, added costs for passenger lodging, and overtime for repairs, even minor ramp incidents can cost airlines $250,000 or more. The FSF estimates that for every dollar of aircraft damage, the actual cost to airlines is at least five times that amount.
In 2003 the FSF launched the Ground Accident Prevention (GAP) programme. Using data developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Foundation currently estimate that 27,000 ramp accidents and incidents occur worldwide every year, which represents one per 1,000 departures. About 243,000 people are injured each year in these accidents and incidents; the injury rate is nine per 1,000 departures.
The FSF currently estimate that the combined costs to the industry for ground accidents worldwide to be around US$10.8b. This includes commercial aircraft repairs (US$4b), corporate aircraft repairs (US$1b) and litigation charges as a result of injuries or deaths (US$5.8b).
The Operator’s Flight Safety Handbook (OFSH) published by the FSF shows that damage and indirect costs from an aircraft to aircraft ground collision are 28 times greater than when a service vehicle collides with a stationary aircraft.
Figures are not given in the report for the cost implications of a moving aircraft colliding with airport facilities but it can be reasonably conjectured that it would be at least half of the cost of an aircraft to aircraft collision.
“Worried over the trend, the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) urged government to take a critical look at the reconstruction of the Lagos Central Taxiway, a second Abuja runway, a backup for the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) system as well as rehabilitation of airport facilities”
