June 18, (THEWILL)- The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has assured the public that there is no cause for alarm as everything necessary is being undertaken to ensure safe and secure air navigation in Nigeria’s airspace.
The apex aviation regulatory agency made the confirmation in reaction to a recent media report that alleged that the country’s airspace is insecure due to a lack of radar coverage.
Confirming Total Radar Coverage Of Nigeria (TRACON), NCAA’s Director General, Chris Najomo, in a statement on Monday, said the agency investigated two recent cases of violation of the prohibited flights zones (DNP4) in Abuja and established that both violations comprised controlled flights in a controlled airspace but strayed into restricted airspace as a result of adverse weather.
The agency said the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) had complete radar footage of the two violations with full details of the identities of the aircraft and operators involved.
According to the NCAA, this was only made possible due to functional primary and secondary surveillance radars in Abuja, adding that similar installations are in Lagos, Kano and Port-Harcourt.
Explaining further, the NCAA stated: “The Authority, in keeping with its regulatory responsibilities, issued an All Operators Letter (AOL DGCA/021/24) wherein the term ‘unknown aircraft’ was used as reported to NCAA, which is the normal security terminology. However, as explained above, investigations revealed that NAMA had complete footage and details of the aircraft that entered the prohibited flight zone. The writer, obviously, not conversant with the technical operations of radar systems ought to have simply consulted the right professionals to be educated accordingly.
“For purposes of clarity, the Primary Surveillance Radar alone only identifies aircraft as moving targets without aircraft identity. The Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR), on the other hand, which forms a major component of the TRACON, is the equipment that allows for the identification of any aircraft equipped with an ATC Mode ‘S’ transponder.
“The requirement for all aircraft flying in controlled airspace to have serviceable ATC transponders is an international standard that Nigeria ensures strict adherence to. This requirement derived from Annex 6 to the Convention on International Aviation is documented in Part 7 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations. This, therefore, makes it a violation of the regulations, and indeed a security breach, for any aircraft to put this system off while flying in controlled airspace, and such action would attract appropriate sanctions in accordance with NCAA’s enforcement procedures, including possible criminal referral.”
On the issue of the welfare of Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs), the NCAA said it had, only recently, intervened in a face-off between ATCOs and NAMA on the need for improved remuneration and working conditions for ATCOs.
As regards the improvement of Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure, the NCAA maintained that Nigeria’s radar coverage is being backed up with five additional MSSR stations at Obubbra, Ilorin, Talata Mafara, Maiduguri and Numan to augment the four existing radar centres to achieve total coverage of the country.
“It is worth noting that such an upgrade is normal global practice when dealing with any electronics system. These systems must be updated from time to time since technology is not static, and the Authority, through its continuous oversight, has not found NAMA wanting in this regard. Thus, NAMA, in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, is working on a system upgrade of the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure,” it added.
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
