Ahamefula Ogbu
11 January 2004
Abuja — The House Committee Sub-Chairman on the Nigerian Air Space Agency, Hon Chidi Nwogu has asked the federal government to expedite action in installing safety equipments across airports in Nigeria to ensure safety of passengers.
According to Nwogu who survived a near mid-air collision of two passenger planes enroute Abuja through Port Harcourt from Enugu on January 5, 2004 said that but for the anti collision apparatus of the aircraft and the sharp reaction of the pilot, passengers on the two aircrafts would have died that day.
He therefore called on the federal government to speed up action in the review of the Global positioning system of the country, which would see to it that modern equipment would be installed for the safety of the nation's airspace.
Nwogu who said the Air Traffic controllers in the country ought to explain why such avoidable mishaps nearly took place and pressed for the reporting and investigating such incidents when they occur rather than hide them.
"That day, we had left Enugu Airport for Abuja through Port Harcourt. Mid way to Port Harcourt, the anti collision apparatus of the airplane came on and the pilot had to react immediately by ducking in the air. If we were unlucky and both aircrafts swerved to the same side, we would have all died. It is a serious issue that should be looked into.
"Usually, aero planes are separated by altitude but I don't know what happened. For a big aircraft that moves at about 8,000 kilometers per hour, it would have collided within seconds of coming close to 1,000 meters of each other.
He said the problems of the sector was that equipment purchased by the country are either obsolete at the point of purchase or are obsolete by time of installation which should be avoided.
The lawmaker from Imo state said it was unacceptable that a busy airport like Enugu airport had no instrument Landing System as the one there was said to have been cannibalized to repair those in other airports.
He warned that with the harmattan haze and poor visibility against high air traffic in the country, there was need to equip all airports with basic safety instruments to avoid disasters.
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