From Madu Onuorah (Abuja) and Wole Shadare (Lagos) Guardian Newspaper

AVIATION Minister, Babatunde Omotoba, yesterday announced the suspension of the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) on duty when two aircraft almost collided in the air in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last Friday.

The Federal Government has also grounded the two aircraft involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, for a viable aviation sector, aircraft giant, Boeing, has said African airlines need $70 billion to finance and acquire 620 planes in the next 20 years.

The company's Vice-President, Sales, Ihssane Munir, spoke at the 18th African Aviation Finance Conference, with theme 'Air finance for Africa,' which ended yesterday.

Omotoba told journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that the supervisor on duty at the time of the Port Harcourt incident had been queried.

He however remarked that the avoidance of the incident and the full take-off of the total radar coverage for the nation was sufficient evidence that Nigeria's airspace is safe.

According to Omotoba, "this is a very good forum for me to assure Nigerians that Nigeria's airspace is safe. Last Friday, there was an air mishap over Port Harcourt. An aircraft was taking off from Calabar, while another one was coming to land in Calabar, and they were about to collide over Port Harcourt.

"Our investigations revealed to us that the air incident was due to Air Traffic Controller's error. The ATC, when we looked at his log book, actually asked the pilot that was coming to land to descend to a level of 21,000 feet, whereas what he put down on his log was 25,000 feet. And then he also asked the one taking off to Lagos to stay at 24,000 feet, so they had to cross path. What saved the situation was the line of defence we have in our airspace. On every aircraft in Nigeria, we have what we call Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

"One of the aircraft was able to notice that another was coming very close to it, and then it decided to come down 5,000 feet to ensure there was no collision. We are happy to discover that there was no collision, and the TCAS that was put on our aircraft is working, otherwise it would have been disastrous on Friday," he said.

Other actions taken by the ministry, Omotoba said, include the grounding of the two aircraft. "We have also called the crew, there is an investigation going on between Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). The first meeting was held on November 3, and then we also got all the ATC's tapes, as well as the log book. It was from there that we realised that it was ATC's error."

He said: "In addition to being ATC error, one would have expected that the aircraft coming to land should have also noticed, because, from our investigations, we have noticed that it was only one aircraft that was able to get that signal. Now, we have checked, the aircraft coming to land also has TCAS, but we are inviting an expert to look at all our aircraft to be sure that the TCAS we have are not epileptic. With the other line of defence we have, by the end of this month when the total radar coverage is fully up, the ATCs in Port Harcourt, would be reduced, they would be able to see clearly."

Omotoba said the ATC that made the mistake had been suspended and his supervisor queried as investigation continues.

The convener of the summit on African aviation, Nick Fadugba, said financing and leasing are critical to aviation, but chided African governments for not attaching importance to it, hence the sorry situation of the sector.

This came as the Federal Government assured that it would rescue local airlines from imminent collapse.

Although the government did not give details of its plan, it simply said the palliatives would be included in the 2010 budget.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Aviation Matters, Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, however, ruled out cash gifts to the carriers.

At the 18th yearly African Aviation Finance Conference which started on Tuesday, Iyal said government had realised and "ascertained that operators in Nigeria are yoked by debilitating debt and the inability to meet the rising cost of doing business," adding that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was ready to look into the problems of the airlines.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the clearing house for global airlines, had recently predicted that "airlines in the African region will lose $500 million in 2009."

Iyal said since meetings on how to rescue the airlines were still on-going, he could not ascertain in what form the palliatives would take.

madamL:
From Madu Onuorah (Abuja) and Wole Shadare (Lagos) Guardian Newspaper

AVIATION Minister, Babatunde Omotoba, yesterday announced the suspension of the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) on duty when two aircraft almost collided in the air in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last Friday.

The Federal Government has also grounded the two aircraft involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, for a viable aviation sector, aircraft giant, Boeing, has said African airlines need $70 billion to finance and acquire 620 planes in the next 20 years.

The company's Vice-President, Sales, Ihssane Munir, spoke at the 18th African Aviation Finance Conference, with theme 'Air finance for Africa,' which ended yesterday.

Omotoba told journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that the supervisor on duty at the time of the Port Harcourt incident had been queried.

He however remarked that the avoidance of the incident and the full take-off of the total radar coverage for the nation was sufficient evidence that Nigeria's airspace is safe.

According to Omotoba, "this is a very good forum for me to assure Nigerians that Nigeria's airspace is safe. Last Friday, there was an air mishap over Port Harcourt. An aircraft was taking off from Calabar, while another one was coming to land in Calabar, and they were about to collide over Port Harcourt.

"Our investigations revealed to us that the air incident was due to Air Traffic Controller's error. The ATC, when we looked at his log book, actually asked the pilot that was coming to land to descend to a level of 21,000 feet, whereas what he put down on his log was 25,000 feet. And then he also asked the one taking off to Lagos to stay at 24,000 feet, so they had to cross path. What saved the situation was the line of defence we have in our airspace. On every aircraft in Nigeria, we have what we call Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

"One of the aircraft was able to notice that another was coming very close to it, and then it decided to come down 5,000 feet to ensure there was no collision. We are happy to discover that there was no collision, and the TCAS that was put on our aircraft is working, otherwise it would have been disastrous on Friday," he said.

Other actions taken by the ministry, Omotoba said, include the grounding of the two aircraft. "We have also called the crew, there is an investigation going on between Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). The first meeting was held on November 3, and then we also got all the ATC's tapes, as well as the log book. It was from there that we realised that it was ATC's error."

He said: "In addition to being ATC error, one would have expected that the aircraft coming to land should have also noticed, because, from our investigations, we have noticed that it was only one aircraft that was able to get that signal. Now, we have checked, the aircraft coming to land also has TCAS, but we are inviting an expert to look at all our aircraft to be sure that the TCAS we have are not epileptic. With the other line of defence we have, by the end of this month when the total radar coverage is fully up, the ATCs in Port Harcourt, would be reduced, they would be able to see clearly."

Omotoba said the ATC that made the mistake had been suspended and his supervisor queried as investigation continues.

The convener of the summit on African aviation, Nick Fadugba, said financing and leasing are critical to aviation, but chided African governments for not attaching importance to it, hence the sorry situation of the sector.

This came as the Federal Government assured that it would rescue local airlines from imminent collapse.

Although the government did not give details of its plan, it simply said the palliatives would be included in the 2010 budget.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Aviation Matters, Captain Shehu Usman Iyal, however, ruled out cash gifts to the carriers.

At the 18th yearly African Aviation Finance Conference which started on Tuesday, Iyal said government had realised and "ascertained that operators in Nigeria are yoked by debilitating debt and the inability to meet the rising cost of doing business," adding that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was ready to look into the problems of the airlines.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the clearing house for global airlines, had recently predicted that "airlines in the African region will lose $500 million in 2009."

Iyal said since meetings on how to rescue the airlines were still on-going, he could not ascertain in what form the palliatives would take.

. I'm always scared of flying wit all dis local airlines