Indications have emerged that Nigeria cannot control every airplane flying its airspace throughout the flight, two years after completing a total radar coverage project.
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency claims that the entire airspace is now fully covered by radars that can sight and monitor all airplanes within the airspace.
But many foreign and local pilots in the country have disputed the claim..
The revelation is coming on the heels of a controversial €66m Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria project which NAMA completed some two years ago.
An Austria-based pilot and Director of Fight Operations, Jetalliance, Captain Norbert Winkler, who flies regularly in Nigerian airspace, said the country had yet to begin the total radar service on its airspace.
This, he said, did not augur well for the country with its increasing aircraft traffic.
But NAMA insisted that the entire airspace, including the neighbouring countries was being fully covered by radars through its recently completed TRACON project.
The airspace agency said that every aircraft flying in the nation’s airspace, and some in its neighbouring countries were being monitored through radars made available by the TRACON project. The radars are being monitored by air traffic controllers.
But Winkler, who also regularly flies in Europe and North America, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, explained why there was no full radar service yet in Nigeria.
He said, “The radio communication equipment is bad and Nigeria does not have full radar coverage of the country. The air traffic controllers need to ask who you are, where you are and what your missions are; and how many people you have on board.
“This eats up a lot of time. Sometimes, the air traffic controller doesn’t even have time to talk to you because he is so much busy with so many aircraft. As soon as Nigeria has full radar coverage, they don’t need to ask all these things.”
Asked how he knew the entire airspace was not being covered by radar, Winkler said, “As a pilot, you know all your routes and the air traffic controller knows your routes but he needs to have in mind all the planes in the airspace under the radar. Let me give you an example. If you check in America or Europe, if you change frequency, all you need to do is to call your new frequency with your call sign. As a pilot, you say, ‘Frankfurt radar, this is Oscar Ecko Mike Julio’ and then the radar contact says ‘OK’. That is it. In America, you just say ‘Radar, this is Oscar Ecko Serial checking in. That is it, nothing again because he already has you on the radar.
“Here in Nigeria, it is necessary to tell them who you are, which registration, how many people on board, how many children are coming in, from where and going to where. That takes a minute. And by the time you are doing that there is traffic in the airspace and at times, the controller can’t talk to other pilots. We need to address this in order to increase the safety. I don’t want to criticise because every country has its own problem but if you ask me, I would say that priority needs to be given to full radar coverage of the country. That will help a lot.”
Some local pilots, who spoke under condition of anonymity, aligned with Winkler.
They said although TRACON had improved air safety in the country, NAMA had not really commenced a comprehensive radar service for pilots in the country.
Aviation experts said full radar service would help ATCs to see all airplanes in the country’s airspace and direct them appropriately.
An air traffic controller told our correspondent under condition of anonymity, that only airplanes flying below 20,000 feet were being seen and monitored through the installed radars.
The ATC explained that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority had not given approval to NAMA to begin the provision of total radar services for aircraft flying above 15,000 feet above the sea level.
He said, “What we are providing now in NAMA is terminal radar services for airports like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and a few other airports with good traffic. And this service is provided up to 20,000 feet above the sea level. Anything, above that, we only use procedural method, which does not involve radar because we can’t provide such service yet.”
A top official at NCAA, who spoke under condition of anonymity, said the regulatory authority had yet to grant approval for NAMA to begin radar services for airplanes flying above 20,000 feet.
This, he said, was because it had yet to close all the necessary open items.
NAMA last week admitted that it was yet to begin the area radar services.
The airspace agency, however, said it would begin the services in April.
The Managing Director of NAMA, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh, told airline pilots in a meeting last week that the agency would commence the test running soon.
A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, NAMA, Mr. Supo Atobatele, said, the agency would begin the “area radar control in the country” in April.
Area radar control is the air traffic control service provided for airplanes flying within the Flight Information Region.
Udoh said February 22, 2013 was for the test run with the operating airlines, while April 12, 2013 would be the implementation day.
The NAMA boss said the regulatory agency – NCAA – was being carried along to give the approval for the immediate implementation of the air traffic service to airlines .
He listed the benefits to be derived from the area radar control as: increased airspace capacity, improved safety, reduced fuel consumption, reduced flight time and efficient flow of air traffic, among others.
Asked to comment on why the airspace had not been totally covered by radar over the years, Atobatele said the agency had closed discussions on issues relating to the radar.
On why it had yet to commence area radar services over the years, he said the agency was ready to commence it in April.