Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Umar Ahmed Farouk on Wednesday said the Agency’s Air To Ground communication equipment was completely razed down by the fire that gutted the airport on Monday.
While assuring that the airspace safe, Farouk said the situation has affected communication but has resorted to using the back up to sustain air traffic services.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Farouk said: “Let me be very honest with you, the fire has affected our air to ground communication completely, what you see on ground now is that we are able to sustain air traffic service through the backup that we moved from other places to sustain Lagos. We have a lot to do when we are out of the situation.’
Farouk, who noted that NAMA acted promptly as soon as the incident happened said the situation was a huge loss as far as communication and air traffic services were concerned, adding that it had to close the airspace to inbound flights to forestall any untoward situation.
“We were in the management meeting when this incident was reported. I immediately dispatched director of operations and engineering to come and sit on ground. It was a huge loss as far as communication is concerned and other air traffic services were really disrupted. So we had no option at that time than to suspend inbound aircraft into Lagos. But good enough, the Director of operations was around and there was prompt response to the emergency situation that we found ourselves in, I spoke to the Director of operations and the engineers and those are workers that were on ground. Some of them actually put their lives in danger because they were supposed to run and leave their place, they decided to stay and salvage the situation, today we are happy to say that the communication, aerodrome approach and air control remains uninterrupted. And this is the fact that in emergency situations, we are highly professionals always ready to address this kind of unfortunate situation.
“I want to assure Nigerians and the flying public that the Nigerian Airspace still remain safe because we take safety seriously. I’m happy that no life was lost and what we are trying to do now is to improve on what we have done so far, we have to ask the chinese people that were working here to help us so that we can move the mobile tower. So I visited the area, they have done very well within a day or two days or so, and hopefully by tomorrow or next, we’ll be able to move the mobile tower. But I want to assure Nigerians that air to ground communication will remain uninterrupted.”, he said.
