The crash of an Agusta Helicopter, belonging to the Nigerian Navy in Bayelsa State, has again raised concerns about the state of air safety in Nigeria. The recurrence of air disasters has provoked many questions but provided little answers in the aviation sector. Amid anxiety by the public, experts and stakeholders in the sector are divided on whether efforts by the government are enough to improve the nation’s bad safety record in global aviation, reports KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR
These are not the best of times for players in the aviation sector. This is because of the recent crash of an Agusta helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Navy in Bayelsa State, where the Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Yakowa, former National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, and four others died.
The crash brings to three the number of ghastly helicopter crashes in Nigeria in recent times. These the ones involving a Nigeria Police helicopter carrying Mr John Haruna, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Operations, which crashed near Jos, the Plateau State capital; and another flying the Chief Executive Officer of a shipping firm.
These and the DanaAir disaster on June 3, 2012 in Iju-Ishaga, a suburb of Lagos with all 153 passengers on board, brings to the fore, again, the question of air safety in Nigeria.
The recurrence of air crashes in Nigeria has brought to the front burner efforts by the government to close gaps in air safety, which experts have over the years, attributed to obsolete infrastructure.
Since the Naval helicopter’s crash, which many have said is one too many, experts in the sector have argued that there is need to harmonise civil and military aviation to promote air safety.
But the former spokesman Nigeria Airways Mr Chris Aligbe has cautioned Nigerians on speculations making the rounds that the nation’s air space is not safe.
Aligbe explained that because military aviation is self-regulatory, it is outside the purview of the the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to determine the nature of military aircraft operations.
He said some people suggested that the helicopter crash may have cast doubt on the integrity of air safety in the country.
He explained that military aircraft do not fall within the purview of the NCAA even the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) is not empowered to investigate military air accidents.
He said: “There is institutional difference in oversight of military and civil aviation operations. All the aviation agencies have no responsibility over military operations. Even the AIB cannot investigate military air accidents. They do not come under the inventory of the NCAA. The military is self-regulating. They train their staff to the highest level. The military has full complements over the regulation of their aircraft.”
He urged the military to build internal capacity for their aircraft, adding that the culture of self-regulation by the military requires tremendous institutional will- power.
On the call that military aircraft should be brought under the supervision of the Aviation Ministry, Aligbe said such proposal would not work, because NCAA has no competence to oversee military transport aircraft and other fighter jets in their fleet.
“It is unfortunate that the crash occurred and some illustrious Nigerians died. Sadly, some people now want to frighten the public because of the questions over air safety in Nigeria, as they affect the quality of civil aviation regulation.
“There is difference between military and civil aviation. Any professional who talks about it is not worth his salt. We all have to wait for the report of the investigation because it would amount to being presumptive to hold such position. To say the least, it is against global standards,” he added.
He explained that since 2005, when the aviation industry was bedevilled by series of air crashes, the government has risen to the situation by facilitating infrastructure upgrade and other amenities needed to improve air safety.
Aligbe noted that though the International Federation of Airline Pilots raised some issues a few years ago over poor communication in the airspace, the government has invested enough overtime to improve the system.
He said the government’s intervention in the industry is working in the area of air navigation facilities and airport infrastructure.He canvassed the implementation of communication navigation satellite surveillance and air traffic management, which he said is key to air safety.
Aligbe, however, urged the relevant government agencies to do more in providing the needed air navigation facilities, affirming that for a sustained infrastructure upgrade, the government should allocate more funds for critical safety projects.
He said: “A maintenance facility in Nigeria is long overdue. The government should facilitate the establishment of such a project, and ensure that the airlines have enough aircraft to ensure it is profitable.
“If there are not enough aircraft to sustain the maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, it could be a failure. Above all, there must be competence in fleet and aircraft type to make it work.
“One sure way of achieving this is the entrenchment of standardisation of fleet and line management to boost the competence of such a facility.”
He further said without standardisation of aircraft type, the industry could have problems with growth and development, as major aircraft repairs’facilities are driven by the development of competence in aircraft types.
“Most of the airlines in Nigeria do not have commonality of aircraft type to drive maintenance and repair overhaul facilities,” Aligbe added.
A non-governmental coalition that focuses on aviation safety last week called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to introduce a legal framework, which would compel aircraft and helicopters to come under the supervisory of the Ministry of Aviation. The aircraft and helicopter type, the group said, should include those in the fleet of the military.
The group explained that the implementation of this proposal would facilitate a national aviation safety standards in compliance with best practices, adding it could save Nigeria from incessant plane crashes.
Senior members of the group Emmanuel Onwubuiko and Maimuna Al-Hassan exonerated the Ministry of Aviation of any blame in the Bayelsa crash, reiterating that since military planes and helicopters do not fall under the schedules of officials of the civil aviation ministry, it would improper to blame them.
Chief Executive of Mish Aviation, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia, explained that the crash might not have any effect on civil aviation because military and civil aviation are different.
He said civil and military aviation differ in terms of structure as military aviation is not subject to civil registration and, therefore, not under any civil oversight from NCAA.
Mshelia said the Minister of Aviation should not be blamed for the tragedy, saying she is only in charge of civil aircraft.
“The Minister should not be blamed at all. She supervises the civil aviation operations involving civil registered aircraft only, even if the aircraft is operating under Military Aviation. But in this case, the aircraft was reported to be a Naval helicopter, which is under military aviation.
“Since it doesn’t bear civil registration, the Minister has no jurisdiction of safety oversight prior to the accident on that aircraft, nor has any right of inquiry into that unfortunate accident,” he said.
Also, the General Secretary, Aviation Round Table, Mr Sam Akerele, dismissed insinuations that the spate of air crashes could affect the nation’s rating in global aviation.
He said: “I don’t think this crash will affect Nigeria’s aviation rating in the international community. It is, however, a signal that Nigeria should not relent in its efforts to sanitise the sector. We sympathise with the country.”
Another industry expert, who pleaded anonymity, said since it was a military helicopter that was involved in the crash, it would not affect the country’s rating.
According to him, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority does not have safety oversight over military planes.
Industry analyst and Head, Research and Statistics, Mr Olumide Ohunayo, also said this might not affect the country’s rating in any way.
Nigeria is among the five African countries (from the 64 African countries) that have passed United States of America’s Category One Certification. The other African countries are Cape Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa.
From 1967 to 2012, Nigeria recorded 131 accidents. The crashes, which involved both fixed wing and helicopters, led to the death of 1,166 people.
Meanwhile, an aviation expert, Group Captain John Obakpolor, a retired Air Force officer, has called for collaboration between military and civil aviation on ways to improve air safety in Nigeria.
He said there was the need to set up a military aviation department, like it exists in civil aviation to raise the bar in air safety.
President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Isaac Balami, said pilots have continued to adhere to regulations to boost air safety.
His position was predicated on insinuations in some quarters that some pilots some times bend the rules to keep their jobs.
Balami, however, said no pilots would do this, saying it would amount to suicide for any pilot to fly an aircraft he knows is not airworthy.
Only last month, experts in the industry tasked airline operators on the need to upgrade their avionics in compliance with Performance Based Navigation (PBN) to Global Navigation Satellite Systems, the latest technology in airspace management.
AON Chairman, Dr. Steve Mahonwu; Secretary-General, Mohammed Joji; its Assistant Secretary General, Mohammed Tukur and the Managing Director of Afrijet, Mr Vitalis Ibe, said the problem with the navigational communications was not beyond redemption, noting that the Federal Government should assist the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to secure the airspace.
Mahonwu said given the commitment of NAMA, he noted, was poised to remedy the situation.
Experts, including pilots and air traffic controllers, said the situation “is so bad that often times airplanes enter the Nigerian airspace without the knowledge of air traffic controllers. At other times, they only get to know of such flights through telephone calls from their counterparts in Nigeria’s friendly nations.”
In the past one year, the Federal Government has embarked on airport infrastructure, including those of remodelling and air navigation, aimed at improving air safety on the ground and in sky.
As a follow up to the remodelling, NAMA has completed the first phase of the installation of N280 million solar powered facilities at six major airports to check power failures on its navigational aids (NAVAIDS).
The solar power is for navigation/landing aids in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Bida and Enugu airports where the agency has the problem of power failure.
Chairman, Stormberg Power Limited, Tunde Morakinyo, the contractor of the solar power project, described the hybrid power system in the country as first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. He promised that the second phase of the project would start early in the new year.
NAMA spokesman, Supo Atobatele, said each of the sites has 24 solar panels with a 15 KVA hybrid inverter. The system has 18 batteries for the NAVAIDS except the very high frequency omni-directional radio range (VOR), adding that this could last for 12 hours. For the VOR, the back up batteries are 36 and it has capacity to run the system for between 15 and 18 hours.
Managing Director, NAMA, Mr Nnamdi Udoh, described this as ” another milestone in saving money and diversifying our power source to solar.
“It is a project that has been on-going and is fully completed and we are now using it. It is saving us the huge amount we used to spend on diesel to power generators and the down-time we used to experience due to power failure.
“So, it is a thing of joy. We will continue to explore how we are going to deploy it in other areas apart from its current usage for navigational aids, which is the pilot scheme in six airports/locations”.
Udoh said the nation’s airspace records over 500 flights daily, and that this is an evidence of improved air safety.
He said the figure does not include overflying flights, which do not land at the airports.
According to him, air traffic has increased astronomically in recent years, adding that the situation has forced the agency to embark on critical projects to boost the capacity of its navigational facilities.
He said the development informed the agency’s decison to decongest the Lagos Area Control Centre of the airspace.
He said: “With growing traffic, especially at peak period, the main Lagos Aerial Control Centre frequency, 127.3MHz, had become congested with attendant challenges posed to pilots. The agency in her typical manner commenced the process of categorising the Lagos ACC. And based on the project timeline of December 17, 2012, the Lagos ACC would have been categorising.”
He added: “I want to use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that our airspace is safe. To address some of the challenges we had in the past, embarked on many critical projects to reposition and strengthen the navigational facilities in the airspace.”
Udoh explained that a team of air traffic controllers and engineers was working on the technical and operational implementation of the categorisation.
In addition, NAMA’s Director of Operations, Mr Mukaila Solola, said the agency has taken some major steps to address radio communication challenges in the airspace, adding that at the moment, only Nigeria could boast of having the Performance Based Navigation (PBN) system in Africa.
PBN is a shift from ground based-navigation to satellite-based.
NAMA reassured the public of the safety of the airspace, noting however, that there were still challenges in radio communication in the airspace.
Udoh added that the agency was working towards solving the problems, adding that there was a medium-term plan for the implementation of the Controller Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC) that would further boost the safety of the airspace.
He, however, said it was wrong to allege that pilots were flying blindly in the airspace. He stressed that no pilot could ever take-off from the ground without receiving instructions from the air traffic controllers.
“To address some of the challenges we have had in the past, the agency embarked on several safety critical projects, one of which includes the Total VHF Radio Coverage of the airspace. Experts say the project has been completed and the project provides VHF radio services for Lagos and Kano.
“Currently, a team of air traffic controllers and engineers are working on the technical and operational implementation of the sectorisation which includes but not limited to drawing of procedures, gap analysis and safety audits of the process,” Udoh said.
NAMA completed the World Geodetic Survey (WGS-84) of Bebi airstrip, which joins other major airports prepared for satellite-based navigation system.
NAMA said it developed this capacity through competence transfer achieved by the WGS-84/Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) project of 24 airports.
“With this development, NAMA prides itself as having in-house experts in WGS-84 Survey, PBN Procedure Design and Cartography. NAMA has also acquired through same project, state-of-art digital survey equipment and GIS LAB.
“The agency is ready to collaborate with any organisation that requires this service within and outside Nigeria, with assurance of delivery in accordance with international standards to ensure Safety of Air Navigation”, Udoh, said.
Meanwhile, plans have reached an advanced an stage to upgrade the airports facilities in the 22 locations.
According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the remodelling of the airports is expected to be completed in two years.
At the end, the 22 airports would have been renovated to meet international standards.
Speaking on the development, FAAN General Manager, Corporate Communications, Yakubu Dati, said the authorities have been working hard to ensure that after the remodelling, meets international standard.
