Leadership (Abuja)
Capt Daniel Omale
4 July 2008
column
Abuja — The heading of this article may look cynical, but the intent is not. Rudimentarily, aircraft accidents are inevitable because of human factors; through education, research and training, there has been a great reduction in the frequency of air crashes worldwide.
Below, the rough road of the United States safety victory is enacted to highlight how a serious and dedicated nation can fight hard to attain proportionate safety in its airspace.
In the middle of the 1920s, aviation in America was emerging from its long period of confusion and stagnation but aviation in Europe had captured the imagination of the people and of industry, almost immediately after the Wright brothers' tour of Europe in 1908-09 and still led the way. The United States government had been significantly involved in promoting aviation at least since 1918 with subsidy and direct investment in infrastructure and in 1926, it would begin to legally promote safety and standards in aviation in order to boost the public confidence. In the meantime, flying had progressed from mail planes constructed of wood and wire with open cockpits to all metal stress skinned monoplanes flying in instrument conditions at speeds over three times that of early aircraft. In the middle of 1930s, flying was still something of an adventure, for navigation facilities were primitive, instruments rudimentary and weather prognostication an immature act (Lawrence, 2000).
The Trans World Airlines (TWA) crash of the Fokker Trimotor in 1931 that killed Knute Rockne (famous football coach) was the most notorious domestic airline crash until the death of Senator Bronson Cutting on May 6, 1935, aboard another TWA airplane, a DC-2 airplane on a transcontinental flight from Los Angeles to Newark. Senator Cutting was much loved in the Senate. The Congressional investigation of the crash centered on the department of commerce and its administration of aviation safety. It was determined that the department had been lax in enforcing the few safety rules in place. Controversy arose between the department of commerce and TWA as to whether the 45-minute fuel reserve rule had even been properly published, or whether TWA was otherwise notified of the rule. There were questions of conflict of interest of the department of commerce investigating itself concerning the adequacy of existing rules and their enforcement. The department was shown to have a propensity for laying blame on the pilot in command, a tendency, some may argue, that continues to this day. The press stirred the pot well and the public reaction ranged from a loss of confidence in the system to outrage.
And then, on October 7, 1935, a United Airlines crash near Denver killed twelve people. On April 7, 1936, another TWA DC-2 crashed in Pennsylvania with twelve more fatalities. On August 6, 1936, a Chicago & South Lockheed went down in St. Louis with fatalities of all eight aboard, and on February 10, 1937, a DC-3 aircraft flown by United Airlines crashed in San Francisco and all eleven on board were lost. The winter of 1937, in fact, recorded five airline crashes with fatalities. The airlines took it upon themselves to develop operating rules and regulations for the governance of their pilots, still in rather undisciplined lot, and who looked upon flying as another form of freedom, not restriction. In 1935, the airlines knew someone had to control the growing number of airplanes plying the skies, particularly where they converge for landing, like in Newark, New Jersey. It was American airlines that took the lead in designating a "boss," someone in charge who could direct planes to maintain separation by altitude, primarily, as they approach for landing. An agreement between six airlines created a company known as Air Traffic Control, Inc, and was manned by employees of those companies. But by 1936, Air Traffic Control was taken over by the Department of Commerce Bureau of Lighthouses; procedures at last began to change. Discipline and self-control were becoming as much a requirement of good piloting technique as airspeed and altitude.
In 1958, the function of the U.S. government in promoting, regulating, and enforcing aviation safety standards finally found a permanent home when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was established. The U.S. airspace handles 50,000 flights per day and approximately 738 million passengers by U.S. airlines annually. The Air Traffic Controllers in America manage about 61 million arrivals and departures every year. Safety remains the number priority of the FAA and except for the Comair accident on August 27, 2006, the U.S. would have had a near perfect safety record. FAA's safety record continues to be remarkable accomplishment with research and development into improved flight safety continuously on the rise. The foregoing is an example of a nation and its citizens dedicating themselves to national service of their country without intense greed and selfishness. An American life is worthy to his/her nation and, therefore, inventions and innovations towards safety measures are pivotal in everyday planning of the agencies responsible for promulgating and enforcing safety issues.
In Nigeria, the main catalyst for the previous and future air accidents lies in one major factor called indiscipline, which has given birth to multiple children in the names of insincerity, corruption and deception. The rot in aviation industry in Nigeria has undermined our own existence and, therefore, safety in the air will only remain a flickering illusion to be attained. Unfortunately, there has never been a congressional hearing into the causes of all the fatal accidents in Nigeria with a view to understanding the rudiments, the statistics and prognostic of the trend. When Obasanjo's government summoned the meeting of all aviation stakeholders shortly after Sosoliso crash in 2006, there was an obvious sign of insincerity in the manner of how the issue of air crash was discussed. Each and every participant had his own agenda, which was far distant from determining the root causes of fatal aircraft accidents in Nigeria. Every speech at the occasion was rhetoric; each speaker was more interested in being noticed by the president. The meeting was orchestrated with mischievous deliberations and after the show. Everyone praised the president for his concern for aviation industry in Nigeria. Another crash by ADC airlines a few months after the meeting, reiterated the insincerity and deception of the stakeholders meeting. Nothing positive towards flight safety by our public officers was ever heard again.
Since we cannot strive hard enough to minimise accidents, the fundamental issue towards preparing for the next air crash in Nigeria should focus on passengers' compensation. Among airlines based in modern economies ( For example, North America, Europe and Japan ) insurance compensation payments to the families of crash victims can run between $2.4million to $4.1 million per passenger, which signifies the value attributed to human life in modern liberal democracies. While Bellview airlines paid about $100,000(about N11.9M) per passenger after a long protracted delay, ADC and Sosoliso airlines are yet to fulfill their own obligations to their victims. It is highly appalling to read that Sosoliso passengers were insured for $10,000 (N1.2M) each and are yet to be paid. The biggest question is: How on earth did the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority allowed such meagre rate on human life in this country, and why so much laxity in reviewing passengers compensation pay-outs upward in Nigeria?
In our demographic analysis of the passengers that fly within Nigeria, 98% of them are the bread -winners of their various homes and, therefore, no passenger should be insured less than $600,000( about N70m) in Nigeria henceforth.
This would be the first step in our preparation for the next air crash in Nigeria, which may not be too far from now. Nigeria is supposed to be a country, not a glorified jungle where survival of the fittest prevails.
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