The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has assured the general public that the country’s airspace is sufficiently secure with radar coverage.
The Acting Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo denied reports in some quarters that Nigerian airspace is insecure.
According to the statement, Najomo said the “attention of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been drawn to statements insinuating that the Nigerian airspace is insecure due to a lack of coverage by radar.
“Ordinarily, the Authority usually refrains from reacting to such baseless and unguarded statements, but to assure the flying public in particular and Nigerians in general, the Authority is constrained to put the records straight.
“NCAA firmly aligns with the statement from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON). In furtherance to this, the NCAA investigated two recent cases of violations of the prohibited flight zones (DNP4) in Abuja and established that both violations comprised controlled flights in controlled airspace but strayed into restricted airspace as a result of adverse weather.
“NCAA can also confirm that NAMA had complete radar footage of the two violations with full details of the identities of the aircraft and operators involved. This was only made possible due to functional primary and secondary surveillance radars in Abuja. Similar installations are in Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt.”.
The statement further said the Authority, in keeping with its regulatory responsibilities, issued an All Operators Letter (AOL DGCA/021/24) wherein the term ‘unknown aircraft was used as reported to the NCAA, which is the normal security terminology.
“However, as explained above, investigations revealed that NAMA had complete footage and details of the aircraft that entered the prohibited flight zone. The writer, obviously not conversant with the technical operations of radar systems, ought to have simply consulted the right professionals to be educated accordingly.
“For purposes of clarity, the primary surveillance radar alone only identifies aircraft as moving targets without aircraft identity. The Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR), on the other hand, which forms a major component of the TRACON, is the equipment that allows for the identification of any aircraft equipped with an ATC Mode ‘S’ transponder.
“The requirement for all aircraft flying in controlled airspace to have serviceable ATC transponders is an international standard that Nigeria ensures strict adherence to. This requirement, derived from Annex 6 to the Convention on International Aviation, is documented in Part 7 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.
“This, therefore, makes it a violation of the regulations, and indeed a security breach, for any aircraft to put this system off while flying in controlled airspace, and such action would attract appropriate sanctions in accordance with the NCAA’s enforcement procedures, including possible criminal referral,” the statement explained.
“As regards the improvement of Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure, Nigeria’s radar coverage is being backed up with five additional MSSR stations at Obubbra, Ilorin, Talata Mafara, Maiduguri, and Numan to augment the four existing radar centres to achieve total coverage of the country. This is also in line with the Honourable Minister’s five-point agenda on infrastructure and fully supported by the NCAA’s oversight in ensuring installed infrastructure continually delivers the desired output.
“It is worth noting that such an upgrade is a normal global practice when dealing with any electronic system. These systems must be updated from time to time since technology is not static, and the Authority, through its continuous oversight, has not found NAMA wanting in this regard.
“Thus, NAMA, in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, is working on a system upgrade of the Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure.
“Finally, the NCAA wishes to unequivocally assure the public that there is no cause for alarm as everything necessary is being undertaken to ensure safe and secure air navigation in Nigeria’s airspace,” Najomo noted.
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