Nigerian Air traffic communication infrastructure deplorable –NAMA

Louis Ibah

Managing Director/CEO of the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Captain Fola Akinkuotu, says the country was still plagued by poor quality radio communication in its airspace despite ongoing efforts to resolve the challenge. 

According to Akinkuotu, part of NAMA’s job is the provision of communication in the airspace, although he admitted that the agency was yet to achieve 100 per cent of that target.

“Any air traffic communication that is not crisp clear is a recipe for confusion. Our radio communication today is not the best,” said Akinkuotu.

“In the South East, a lot of pilots have had to step on each other and Air traffic Controlers (ATCs)  because of poor communication and if you are alien to the environment, that may make you categorise our airspace as unsafe

“I have spent two years in NAMA and I thought I would have fixed this problem, but I haven’t. Efforts are being made and we are not going to stop because of the challenges,” he added. 

NAMA boss  stated this at the no-hold barred Air Traffic Controllers (ATC)/ Pilot Interactive Session with theme ‘Enhancing Safety of Flight Operations’, organised by Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA) in collaboration with the Flight Crew Association of Nigeria (FCAN)  and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).

“I work for NAMA . Part of NAMA’S job is communication but we have not achieved what we set out to do. And so we are asking for feedback from the users,” Akinkuotu said.

President NATCA, Abayomi Agoro, who also spoke at the event said commercial flight operations without a clear communication between the pilot in the cockpit and controllers in the tower held dire consequences for safety of the flight.

He said the present Controller-Pilot VHF Communication coverage of Nigeria’s airspace is a far cry from the required international standard, but it is still work in progress with NAMA. Over the years, it has been quite an Herculean task for Air Traffic Controllers to communicate effectively with pilots.