By IPS Correspondents
HARARE, Jan 24 1997 (IPS)

Few of the people who fly over or to Africa know just how dangerous its skies are, but Cathy Bill does.

“The safety standards throughout a large part of Africa are undoubtedly unacceptable,” Bill, general manager of the Airline Pilots’ Association of South Africa, told IPS.

“It is our opinion that this has been brought about by the large increase in aircraft traffic over the continent of Africa to South Africa since South Africa’s emergence from its political isolation,” added Bill, whose organisation is a registered trade union that represents commercial pilots.

Before the demise of apartheid, South Africa was regarded as a pariah nation and many countries imposed sanctions on it, including an air embargo. All changed when Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) was swept to power in the first all-race elections, held in 1994.

“The number of airlines flying into South Africa has risen from approximately 20 about three years ago to almost 80,” notes Bill.

However, that increase is not the only factor. In many African countries, aeronautical services have not been upgraded and the infrastructure is outdated and inadequate.

“We believe that navigational aids, their maintenance, the calibre of training of air traffic controllers and airport security are inadequate in many states in the region,” said Bill.

Runway lighting, for example, is often inadequate or not functioning, according to the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), which has issued an urgent safety bulletin regarding the deficiencies to all its member associations worldwide.

IFALPA has also been appealing to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to ensure that the shortcomings are addressed and that short, medium and long-term solutions are implemented in Africa to improve the level of safety.

Countries with poor aviation records include Nigeria which has recorded 47 plane crashes and hundreds of airplane emergencies over the past 26 years — in 1991 alone there were 32 crashes. This has led to growing concern about the safety of air travel there and the inadequacy of aviation equipment in Nigerian airports.

Memories of a Boeing 727 crash last November in which all 143 people died, are still fresh for Nigerians, and for many other people who travel to Nigeria.

According to Nigeria’s National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), concrete measures must be taken urgently by government to protect the aviation industry.

Among other things, NAAPE has urged the government to consider “as a matter of urgency, the need to set up, immediately, a good maintenance base for aircraft in the country so that we can be sure of the technical state of aircraft in our airspace.”

What happens after crashes is also a source of concern for Nigerians. The country needs 40 billion Naira or 50 million U.S. dollars to bring its search-and-rescue (SAR) operations up to standard. But Transport Minister Ibrahim Gumel said in August that the government did not have the money needed to update its SAR system.

Nigeria’s airports are fitted with primary radars which, according to Sani Baba, former managing director of the Nigerian Aviation Authority, have a limited span, covering only a few kilometres.

Zimbabwe is not listed as one of the danger zones but, three years ago, hardly a week passed without a near collision in its airspace — caused by frequent breakdowns of its antiquated equipment.

“The situation has not changed much,” said a source in the Department of Civil Aviation who refused to be named. “The last near miss I heard at the Harare International Airport was last year.”

“But bad as our situation may be, the situation is worse further north in countries like Zaire,” he says. “Air traffic control is supposed to be 24 hours but sometimes you don’t get communication at all in countries like Zaire.”

An Air Zimbabwe pilot told IPS: “You radio Lubumbashi (in Zaire): ‘Lubumbashi do you read us?’ and there is no response. You keep on flying and, when you are over Gabon, that’s when Lubumbashi responds.”

Situations like these have pilots worried. “ALPA-SA is very concerned regarding the safety of the air space in Africa and the lack of adequate air traffic control,” said Bill.

The situation is so bad, she said, that pilots sometimes have to communicate with other aircraft to ensure that they do not collide.

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