As the country’s aviation sector and the entire Nigeria await the outcome of the ongoing probes into what triggered the almost simultaneous incidents involving two airlines that skidded off Lagos airport’s domestic runway 18Left, key players have continued to raise diverse suspicions and questions about the many accumulated reasons that may be responsible for the incidents.
An MD-82 belonging to Dana Air with 83 passengers on board skidded off the local airport runway before getting stuck on the grassy part of the runway on April 23, 2024.
Eighteen days later, another aircraft, an Embraer 145 belonging to XeJet Airlines with 53 passengers on board, also skidded off the same runway.
The relevant aviation authorities, including the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), have since commenced investigations into the two incidents.
The incidents, which have raised concerns among key players in the sector, have started attracting reactions, with many asking questions about the safety status of the Lagos airport runway and other runways in airports across the country.
In his submission, a retired principal aviation security officer with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Babson Akinola, said, based on his long years of experience in aviation, that the incidents and the previous ones may have been caused by two reasons, one of which may likely be that the runway in question must have become too smooth for aircraft tires to be firm on touching down.
Another probable reason, he said, could be that the tires of the aircraft may have loosened their treading, which implies that the aircraft tires have expired.
In such cases, the smoothness of the aircraft tires may make the tires not firm on touching down on the surface of the runway, particularly during heavy rain.
According to him: “There is a possibility of the runway retaining water on its surface, which could cause the aircraft to skid off the runway.
My operational experience tells me that the runway is too smooth for the aircraft tires to be firm on touching down on the runway, which makes the aircraft skid off the runway.
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The tires of the aircraft may have loosened their treading, which implies that the aircraft tires have expired.
In such cases, the smoothness of the aircraft tires may make the tires not firm on touching down on the surface of the runway, considering the weight of the aircraft, particularly during heavy rain.”
He also used the opportunity to declare that the aviation sector in Nigeria may not have a positive impact on our GDP growth unless experienced aviators are appointed as the aviation minister. He said, “In as much as lawyers could not be appointed as NCAA DG, FAAN MD, or NAMA MD, it makes no sense to have appointed a Barrister to superintend over the professionals in the aviation industry.”
In his own reaction, a former military commandant at the Lagos airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retired, revealed that it is not only the Lagos airport runway that has issues, declaring that unless the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria conforms to the periodic maintenance of such safety components, incidents like that may continue to happen.
While citing how similar incidents had occurred many times at the Port Harcourt airport runway, Ojikutu, however, called on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to consider reviewing its checklist for the periodic auditing of the airport runways.
He said, “The maintenance of the runway is not different from what you do as Periodic Maintenance for the airline’s aircraft whenever they are due for such maintenance. The matter on the ground now is not for the airline alone but also for the NCAA and FAAN, especially to prove themselves right well and with due diligence in the Safety Management System.
“Not only does the Lagos runway have an issue, but most of the runways under the FAAN management would have issues if they do not conform to the programs of their Periodic Maintenance. What is happening at Murtala Muhammed Airport is similar to what had happened to many airlines’ aircraft at PH Airport Runway. It is for the NCAA to review or reconsider its checklist for the periodic auditing of the airports’ runways. The questions that FAAN and the NCAA must answer from what is becoming too embarrassing to conceal are: which agent is certified for the derubberization of the runway and for the approved periodic maintenance of the runway?
“FAAN claimed it did the derubberization of the runway the Sunday before the Tuesday that the Dana incident happened. Who did the derubberization, and had the agent or FAAN that did the derubberization have the NCAA Certification for such maintenance work? Was the NCAA notified about the derubberization, and was the job certified by the NCAA after the derubberization? Was NAMA informed about the derubberization, or was the NCAA Certification of the derubberization shown to the NAMA Air Traffic Controllers before flights were being cleared to land on the runway?
“One other major area we have found ourselves in the current mess is having the adequate and skilled manpower to do the necessary oversight in the Auditing, Inspections, and Checks on all the Civil Aviation Operators and their services, which include the over 22 FAAN airports, runways, Taxiways, Avsec, the over 100 equipment of NAMA spread in over 30 areas in over 26 airports, which include the Air Traffic Control, Radar, and navigational aids. The same goes for the Ground Handling Services and the private aircraft operators, etc.
Does the NCAA have the manpower skilled in sufficient numbers for all these to do regular Periodic Audits on each of these options and on each of their services and equipment? Not to forget the Operators of over six Airlines and over 100 of their aircraft? This is the job of the Inspector General Office to be doing on the NCAA and other Regulators if we have one as available in the US.”
