Stakeholders Call for Closure of Port Harcourt Airport over Safety Concerns

Chinedu Eze in Lagos and Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

Stakeholders in the aviation industry yesterday called for the closure of the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa over safety concerns.

They pointed out that presently there is lack of critical infrastructure on the runway, which makes landing at the airport very difficult, especially in the night.

The stakeholders made the call at the second day of the, ‘Industry Engagement on the Review of Accident Reports,’ organised by the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N). They insisted that the number of serious incidents and accidents that had occurred at the airport over the years made the airport unsafe for flying.

Participants explained that the runway of the airport lacks critical facilities, including Instrument Landing System (ILS), which guides aircraft to land, low level wind shear indicators, which notifies the weather conditions, lack of comprehensive marking of the runway and taxiways, noting that the absence of these facilities hamper safe airline operation.

The stakeholders stressed that these facilities at the airport have been in poor state over the years and regrettably contributed to loss of lives and equipment in the past accidents and incidents that have taken place at the airport.
They, therefore, called for urgent rehabilitation of the critical facilities and equipment that will enhance safe air operation.

One of the discussants and Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Group Capt. Ojikutu (rtd) in his contribution said that most of the accidents that happened at Port Harcourt airports were identical and preventable if the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies had performed their duties creditably.

Ojikutu also queried how often the calibration exercise of flying equipment at most of the nation’s airports to ascertain their safety conditions, especially the Port Harcourt airport was carried out, stating that such exercise was supposed to be carried out every six months.
“Necessary things are not always done when these serious incidents or accidents occur in the country. What is the category of ILS in Port Harcourt Airport? Whose responsibility is it to calibrate the ILS especially those in Port Harcourt Airport.

“If it is a military environment, you can say they have signed to die, but what about the civilians? Most of the foreign registered aircraft that we are using for commercial flights who carry out due diligence on them? For how long are they supposed to remain in Nigeria flying? A lot are still needed to be done to sustain the safety we have in the industry,” he said.
Ojikutu called for periodic maintenance of the Port Harcourt airport runways to avoid accident in the sector.