Nigeria: Federal Government to install monitoring device in domestic aircraft

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.

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