Let's commiserate with the families of those involved and affected in the recent plane crash which killed 117 great men and women on board. That singular event has made many widows, widowers. The sorrow occasioned by the tragedy will however continue to linger in the minds of the deceased families.
In a well-maintained passenger plane, accident still does happen. What should be the concern of everyone is the measures put in place to rescue victims. It was crystal clear from the disaster that lack of proper information and slow emergency response actually aggravated the crash and y foreclosed the possibility of survivors. This has called into question the huge chunk of funds already injected into the nation's aviation sector.
The recent air crash and emerging facts thereafter have created sleepless night for many air travelers and would-be air travelers locally. Just three minutes after an aircraft took into the sky its exact location remained a mystery for nearly a day. It was after 14 hours that the aircraft could be located despite search team's deployment of five helicopters. What could the search team find when they were at a wrong place and at a wrong time? Everybody was merely guessing. When has guesswork become part of aviation equipment?
No one could accurately say where the aircraft could be and most importantly the fate of those on board. There was confusion all over. Initial reports indicated there were survivors. That unnecessarily raised the anxieties of the victims' relations. Even the National Emergency Management Agency said it lacked equipment to track a missing aircraft unless the aircraft sends a signal via a beacon installed on it.
No wonder the aviation regulatory agencies, Nigeria Airspace Management Authority and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, embarked on wild goose chase to Kishi between Oyo and Kwara State which far removed from crash site. At that time those on board had died.
As the fruitless search continued in Kishi, the crash site was in a village called Lisa, Ifo local governmenty area of Ogun State not far from Lagos, thanks to Raypower FM and African Independent Television, a privately owned media outfit. A crash happened shortly after 8.30pm on Saturday. It took fire fighters from the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria almost twenty-four hours to get the crash site. Considering the time of the crash and the time it took to know the location, likely survivors needing urgent medical attention must have died. Had the exact location quickly identified, it was still possible to rescue some of the victims.
The National Emergency Management Agency informed the public that a wrong signal was received because the aircraft used old model radio system, Beacon 121.5 MHz. According to the agency, this type of radio system normally gives false distress alert most of the time and said the appropriate radio system is 406 MHz which eliminates guesswork in search and rescue operations. Good defense for a poor performance?
How many local airlines have installed the appropriate radio system, 406 MHz, on their aircrafts? Has it just occurred to the agencies concerned that most airline use old model radio system, Beacon 121.5? Why have they remained indifference to the use of old radio system by the local aircrafts till when lives were lost?
Most aircrafts use in plying local routes are old. The youngest would be eighteen years. Aside from that they are also poorly maintained. Most air-travelers do have one story to tell their friends and family members whenever they board any of the local flights. It has been all the same. If one VIP is not either taking off or landing thereby preventing other aircrafts from taking off or touch land, there could be potholes in the runway. Cows could also invade airport. Yet nothing would be done until tragedy occurred or averted.
Happy moment for the local airline operators is usually early in the week and weekends. Most of the airlines flying during the week have few passengers on board. Whether an aircraft is at full capacity or empty the same operational costs would be incurred
Airline business is capital intensive. Operators cannot be running at loss and still adequately maintained aircrafts. Most of these local airline operators are also in financial strait. This prevents them from having aircrafts to undergo various necessary checks to ascertain their air-worthiness. Not only that, non-availability of fund also frustrate airline operators' intention to have crew members on refresh courses to update their knowledge and acquire necessary skills. Air-worthy aircrafts need adequately trained personnel. Knowledge needs to be upgraded in the ever-changing aviation industry.
It is unacceptable for many to continue losing their breed-winners through no fault of theirs. Yes in a well-maintained aircraft, tragedy occurs. But the tendency for its occurrence is minimized if aircrafts have up to date equipment installed. The industry stakeholders would have to learn some lessons from the banking industry.
Time was when bank depositors could hardly sleep if they deposited in a bank. It was a nightmare then. Depositors could get to a bank and the gate is under lock and key with stern looking security operatives directing depositors to a notice urging them to await further directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However, with the mergers and acquisitions going on in the banking industry, the sector is properly consolidated. Depositors can now sleep with their eyes closed. In order to make the aviation industry strong, vibrant and nip in the bud senseless loss of precious lives, there ought to be mergers and acquisitions among various private airline operators. The advantage of this is that operators would be able to pull their resources together and have good aircrafts on their fleet.
Other economic clusters would also surface.One firm providing same services hardly merge in Nigeria. The reason is well known. Everyone wants to be the CEO. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this. Every Nigerian has every right to aspire to whatever position. However, considering the danger that stares us in the face if cash-strapped airline operators are allowed to continue business, consolidation of the industry through mergers and acquisitions must therefore commence without much delay. Every air-traveler must be able to say goodbye to his family while taking off. In turn he must be able to call them that he arrives safely.
*Ayodele is the Director of Institute of Public Policy Analysis (www.ippanigeria.org) based in Lagos, Nigeria