Dr. Harold |
The Federal Government is set retrofit all
aircraft flying in the nation’s airspace with a new device that will enable the
authorities track abnormalities in their performances whenever they are flying,
the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren,
has said.
The new equipment called, Automatic Flight
Information Reporting System, will enable the NCAA record and monitor
abnormalities encountered by airplanes during flights from a remote centre.
Demuren, who made the disclosure at the Murtala
Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Thursday during the inaugural flight ceremony of a
new domestic carrier, MedView Airlines, said the new device would serve as a
backup in the event of loss of data contained in aircraft’s black boxes.
The plan came on the heels of the loss of data
contained in the black box of the Dana Air plane that crashed in Iju area of
Lagos on June 3, 2012, killing 163 people. The data loss has adversely affected
investigation into the cause of the dual engine failure experienced by the
ill-fated Dana flight.
According to the NCAA boss, the regulatory agency
will make the installation of the new device in aircraft a compulsory
requirement for all domestic airlines, adding that it would be included in
carriers’ minimum equipment list.
He said, “The new device will record everything that
happens to an aircraft during flight. If there is engine failure, it will
record it; if there is excessive temperature, it will record it. If there is
excessive vibration, it will record it.
“All airlines will be required to fix this on
board their aircraft. The control centre will be at the NCAA, where we will be
seeing everything. This is a good development in our airspace.”
Demuren said Medview was issued an Air Operators
Certificate after demonstrating acceptable safety standards to the regulatory agency,
and wished the management of the airline “zero accident and zero fatality.”
Speaking at the ceremony, the Oba of Lagos,
Rilwan Akinolu, said the coming of the new carrier into the scheduled domestic
airline business could not have come at a better time.
He, however, called on the government to begin
the process of offering soft loans to domestic airlines to enable them buy more
airplanes and float formidable carriers.
The Managing Director, MedView, Mr. Muneer
Bankole, said the carrier was committed to maintaining high safety standards in
all its operations.
He said the airline would take delivery of more
airplanes in the months ahead.
The event was witnessed by several dignitaries
from within and outside the aviation sector.
The Punch
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