The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has stated categorically that its ILS at Runway 18L and 18R at Muhammed International Airport Lagos were serviceable.
Reacting to the insinuations, the Airspace Manager of Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, Mr Lawrence Ajayi refuted claims that ILS at Runway 18L and 18R were unserviceable.
According to Ajayi, Runway 18R has precision approach lighting system which is one of the best in the industry, while 18L has simple approach lighting system because it is not busy at night, adding that that both of them are working at optimal levels.
On the radios, he said Radio Frequency 127.3mhz has an improved range and is working perfectly just as the Radio Frequency 124.7 mhz is also in good condition and both of them are on presently.
Debunking the claims, the Director of Safety Electronics and Engineering Services, Engr. Farouk Umar. said in aviation, there is nothing like epileptic communication.”
According to him, “It is either you are communicating or you are not communicating. If this were to be true, international flights would not have been coming into the country. Nigerian airspace is safe for both local and international flights.”
He stressed further that “it is absolutely not true that some areas in the airspace have no communication at all.”
On the issue of ILS, Farouk said all the agency’s ILS are on Category Two, lamenting however that “most of the aircraft in the country do not even have the facilities to fly Cat3 because the aircraft need to be equipped with Cat3 facilities to be able to land in zero visibility, just as pilots themselves need to be trained on Cat3.”
The truth according to Engr. Farouk is that “the ILS we have, you need other facilities at the airport and in the aircraft to complement them while the runway and the airfield lightings are not within the control of NAMA. Our ILS is Cat2 and the visibility minima is 800 meters which is okay.”
While advising journalists to check their facts well before rushing to press, Farouk assured that the Nigerian airspace is as safe as it can be anywhere in the world, adding that the relative safety in the nation’s airspace over the last few years is indicative of the fact that NAMA is alive to its responsibilities.
