• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Shortage of air traffic controllers, poor communication equipment threatening air safety

The safety of Nigeria’s airspace is currently being threatened by a shortage of air traffic controllers and poor radar communication systems in airports across the country, sources tell BusinessDay.

BusinessDay’s checks show  that while Nigeria has 26 operational airports, the number of active licensed pilots is 2,226  and there are 1,532  aircraft maintenance engineers, as well as  543 licensed flight dispatchers. Meanwhile, there are only 313 active licensed air traffic controllers  operating in the country.

Experts say that 313 air traffic controllers are not enough to meet the demands of  the nation’s 26 airports.

Dangyang Davou, vice president, Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) says Nigeria requires at least 600 air traffic controllers to ensure safety in its air space but the country currently has only half of that number.

Experts who spoke to BusinessDay disclose that the reason why air traffic controllers are few in Nigeria is because the only organisation that employs them is NAMA.

BuinessDay checks show that among the five Civil Aviation Training institutions in Nigeria, only the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria trains air traffic controllers.

“It is when NAMA recruits Air Traffic Controllers that they are sent for training at NCAT. Air Traffic controllers do not have a place to work other than NAMA. If people go for the training on their own, where are they going to work?  It is usually only when people die or retire that space will be created to employ more workers,” Sam Adurogboye, general manager, public relations, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority told BusinessDay.

“Currently, Nigeria has about 300 air traffic controllers, which is grossly inadequate, especially in view of the magnitude of work involved in securing its vast air space. Air traffic control is a technical and dynamic area; the personnel must consistently be trained on modern trends if they are to cope and be efficient,” Davou said.

He then advises experts to always come up with strategies to ensure a safer air space, especially with the rising number of aircraft in the sky.

“We need more than twice the number of the air traffic controllers we have today. This is one of the major reasons why Nigerian airlines are losing money. We have over 20 airports but only two of these airports operate for 24 hours, whereas in London or the United States, they operate for 24 hours.

“This development has therefore made it look as if the air traffic controllers are not needed, but in reality, they are one of the key personnel that should be given attention. The air traffic controllers are overworked and they have been complaining. This, in the long run, could be very harmful to air safety, Dung Pam, former Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (NASI) told BusinessDay.

On the communication systems, Dung faulted the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) who are responsible for ensuring that the communication equipment is procured, installed and serviceable.

He recalled that last year, there was a N6.4billion fraud within NAMA which led to the removal of Ibrahim Abdulsalam, the former managing director and some of his team, adding that the money could have been channelled into air traffic services for Nigeria.

A pilot who craved anonymity said that the air traffic controllers have continued to complain of the epileptic communication equipment across the nation’s airports but nothing has been done about them.

“The communication equipment are not working properly. There are places in the airspace where communication is very difficult and one can barely hear. There are cases where some pilots have to ask other pilots who are closer to the communication mast to send messages to the air traffic controllers,” the pilot added.

It will be recalled that Bala Na’allah, the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, last year complained about the poor navigational aids and challenges the pilots are facing, trying to establish effective communication with the control towers, especially for landing.

Na’allah who lamented the poor radio network and the fact that it had dragged on for too long, also noted that so much money had been invested in radio networks in the last few years.

He stressed that it was unacceptable that communications were still ineffective, compared to similar services in Lome, Niamey, Accra and other African airports.

This was corroborated by the air traffic controllers, who once said in a joint statement, that “The distance measuring equipment located with the VOR (voice ominidirectional radio range) in Lagos has been out of service for a long time as well. Equipment in many airports including communication facilities, suffer the same fate.”

Victor Eyaru, President, Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said air traffic controllers have consistently received complaints of poor communication by pilots using the airspace, adding that the  equipment that ought to facilitate  controller-pilot very high frequency communication coverage, was far below the  required standard.

Such equipment gap, if not addressed, Eyaru said, could constitute a threat to air safety. He expressed concerns that on a daily basis, Nigeria was losing enormous revenue in foreign exchange because many aircraft avoid the country’s airspace due to poor communication facilities.

He also stressed that poor communication equipment being used by air traffic controllers has resulted in workers being overworked.

NAMA however refuted the claims, saying that the Radio Frequency 127.3Mhz has an improved range and is working perfectly, just as the Radio Frequency 124.7 MHz is also in good condition and both of them are on presently.

 

IFEOMA OKEKE