Ime Akpan
Pilots flying the Nigerian airspace have complained about communication challenges they encounter daily and called on the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to take step to address them.
Speaking at the Aviation Round Table Quarterly meeting held in Lagos yesterday, a pilot with Med-View Airline, Capt. Stephen Fevrier, said pilots are operating in unsafe airspace in the country due to poor communication system.
“It is not about we coming up to tell you what needs to be done. We are tired of managing the airspace. Every day we go out there, it’s about managing…I can’t speak to Lagos. Ok, don’t worry in another twenty miles I’ll be able to speak to Ghana. We have become accustomed to it. We are actually in a sick environment.
“I came to Nigeria about 12 years ago and the first thing that we were told to learn as pilots is to say break-break when you get into the airspace and that is because the airspace is congested. I must say that the airspace is still congested and unsafe for pilots to fly,” he said.
He said when flying from Lagos to Abuja, pilots often lose contact with the Lagos control tower 200 miles into the airspace.
He also said situation is the same situation between Port Harcourt and Abuja.
Besides, he said coming into the Nigerian airspace from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, pilots hardly communicate effectively with the control tower in Kano.
“In Kano, if you are coming from Jeddah to enter Nigerian airspace, you can’t speak to Kano. You have to wait until you get into 100 miles into Kano most times.
“Having said that even with the rains the 200 miles from Lagos become 150. We really have communication issues in the Nigerian airspace and that needs to be addressed urgently,” he added.
For his part, the safety manager of Arik Air, Capt. Jide Bakare, said the biggest issue Nigerian pilots grapple with is the problem of communication in the airspace.
“There are so many issues but communication is one of the biggest challenges that we face as pilots in Nigerian airspace,” he said.
In his contribution, the former Nigeria Airways pilot, Capt. Prekeme Porbeni, said pilots in Nigeria are suffering while their counterparts in other nations are doing well because of a better airspace and good communication system.
He said foreign airlines often go through the airspace in Ghana before coming to Nigeria because Ghana has a better airspace.
“Repeatedly we kept on hearing the word; we have Total Radar Coverage. The answer is absolutely no. it is because any aero plane or airborne machine flying in (to) the Nigerian airspace can be detected but there is lack of communication between the pilots in the airspace and the air traffic controllers at the towers,” said Porbeni.
