By Dickson Omobola
Following the runway excursion involving Enugu Air at Benin Airport, aviation experts have raised the alarm that random location of structures at airports is putting aviation safety at risk.
They particularly identified the presence of buildings and uncompleted buildings in and around airports, saying poorly sited infrastructure could interfere with the safe management of aircraft operations.
Their worries followed preliminary findings by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, into the recent Enugu Air accident at the Benin Airport.
Among NSIB’s findings was that “an uncompleted building structure is obstructing the controller’s line of sight towards the end of Runway 05 (Runway 23 threshold end).”
To this end, NSIB recommended that the NCAA should ensure that the “control tower is positioned to provide unrestricted view of all the movement areas of the aerodrome.”
It also urged the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, to provide a suitable location for a Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, control tower to ensure an unrestricted view of all movement areas at the airport.
Meanwhile, based on the finding, experts argue that airport infrastructure should never obstruct the visibility of air traffic controllers, whose ability to maintain an unobstructed view of runways, taxiways and other movement areas is crucial to the safe management of aircraft operations.
In recent times, aviation stakeholders had also raised questions about the placement of infrastructure at other Nigerian airports and its potential impact on air traffic control operations. For instance, the siting of the new terminal at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was said to have obstructed part of the control tower’s field of view.
Also, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, structures such as the Legend Hotel, Executive Jet facilities and the General Aviation Terminal were said to have restricted parts of the control tower’s visibility.
The situation at both airports contributed to the deployment of Surface Movement Radar to help controllers monitor aircraft and vehicle movements in areas not fully visible from the tower.
Against the backdrop of the NSIB’s findings, aviation security expert, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retd, questioned the level of regulatory oversight over airport developments.
Speaking to Saturday Vanguard, Ojikutu said: “When was the last audit of that airport by the NCAA? You cannot erect any structure within an airport without the approval of the NCAA. For instance, Murtala Muhammed Airport is surrounded by uncontrolled urban development and a complicated road network
“That has been my position for more than 10 years. Where is the survey plan for Murtala Muhammed Airport? It extends into Mafoluku and Ajao. However, successive administrations have sold parts of the airport land to private individuals.
“Last year, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, wrote to the National Security Adviser, NSA, seeking information on our threat assessment of the security risks posed by the developments along one side of the runway at the Lagos airport.”
For his part, former Rector of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, Capt Sam Caulcrick, told Saturday Vanguard that towers were required by regulation to have an unobstructed view of the runway, taxiways and aircraft approach and departure paths.
He said: “Whether completed or uncompleted, no structure should block the view of the tower. By regulations, the tower should have an unimpeded view of the runway, taxiway and the approach and take-off parts. If it is a natural object that cannot be evacuated economically, there would be cameras installed to cover the blind spots.
“From a visitor’s view, it seems the tower is not high enough. So, after the aircraft overrun, the controller said the incomplete building blocked his view of the wreckage, which was the clearway, not that he could not see an aircraft on approach on that runway. The tower needs to be raised. The building is supposed to be a shelter for the localiser transmitter. You can imagine if the building were completed.”
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