Most air travellers rarely get to see or know what air traffic controllers do in the aviation sector, yet they play some of the most critical roles that guide aircraft movements on the ground, while airborne, as well as play an immense role in a safe landing. But with poor infrastructure, poor welfare, personnel burnout and deaths right behind the controls, air travel in the country is perhaps getting riskier than we all know. WOLE OYEBADE reports.
“The guys on duty insisted on getting clearance for the vehicles, saying they were under instruction not to allow unofficial vehicles into controlled areas. It was a back and forth situation between the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency , and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ,” said an eyewitness.
Traffic flow is broadly divided into departures, arrivals, and overflights. So, while some air traffic controllers work in tall glass towers at airports, many controllers like the deceased Effiong toil at either a Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, or at a routing centre, which may be located far away from airports.
“It has always been a running battle to get NAMA to provide basic facilities for its workers. The Kaduna Airport does not have a control tower. What they are using is a watch room for firefighters. It was not built for that purpose , and we have been calling on the government to do something. In Sokoto, once it rains, controllers need umbrellas to sit in the control tower to work.
Said he: “I have seen and heard of pilots that are flying blind and deaf in parts of our airspace; no communication whatsoever. When it rains in Lagos, for instance, you lose radio communications after 200 nautical miles. Yes, the Controller Pilot Data Link Communications is available, but you always hear them saying, ‘we have problems logging on.’ Sadly, that is where we are now.
“As a pilot, you will often hear the controller shouting things like, ‘Oga, where is the radar control?’ They were not properly trained before coming to the tower. The extra 10 to 20 minutes of fuel usage, who is going to pay for it? These are the issues.”GEORGE Nkambo, ATC communicator, who monitors aircraft movement and communicates with pilots via radio, also decried equipment and personnel shortfall that have made efficient services almost impossible.
Besides fixing the equipment, he also urged NAMA to address the shortage of manpower in the department, just as he observed that his unit has about 300 personnel deficits, which are needed to complement the 176 on the ground to cover airports nationwide effectively.
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