Nigerian Airports Record 90 Bird Strike Incidents in First 6 Months of 2022, Worst in Lagos

• Nigerian airports have reported an increase in birds attacks on aeroplanes across the country
• According to the agency in charge of hazard control, the majority of bird strikes occurred in Lagos during the first six months of 2022
• Other animal attacks were also reported, and the risk agencies hope to find a lasting solution

Birds crashing into flying aircraft are complicating matters for Nigerian airlines.

A bird strike occurs when a bird is drawn into the engine of an aircraft. This immediately damages the engine.

Azike Edozie, Head of Bird/Wildlife Hazard Control for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said there were 93 bird strike incidents at airports in the first six months of 2022.

According to BusinessDay, he revealed this while speaking at a workshop organized by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency's (NAMA) Search and Rescue Mission.

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In his speech, Edozie stated that 54 bird strike incidents had been recorded at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA).

He said:

”My record shows that we have had at least 93 bird strike incidents in all our airports between January this year to June. And out of this number, 54 of it happened in Lagos Airport alone, which represents about 70 per cent of the total occurrences.

”We all have to proffer a solution to this menace and I do hope we have a lasting solution to it because everyone, especially the airlines are losing money.”

Edozie, however, said that the responsibility of keeping the airspace safe from bird incidents lied with every stakeholder in the industry, including airline operators, security agencies and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The Guardian reports that he expressed hope that the respective agencies would find a lasting solution to the menace soon, decrying that airlines were losing millions of dollars to the incident annually.

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Pilots at fault

Also speaking, Adetunji Adetutu, Head of Unit, Bird Control, FAAN, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, stated in his presentation that no airline is immune to bird strikes.

Adetutu explained that FAAN, as the airport's landlord, was doing everything possible to limit the spread of the incident, including the purchase of modern equipment, which he said had helped to mitigate its effects.

He also blamed some pilots for the industry's high bird strike rates, stating that some pilots were always in a hurry to leave one airport for another and violated the Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) instructions. He insisted that the airlines and their pilots must change their culture by adhering to the instructions issued by ATCs.

According to him, 98% of bird strike incidents occurred at airports, particularly during takeoff and landing.

He said:

"We hope to propose on mitigation in order to address it. We also need to know the activities of birds too. Statistics that was given earlier indicates that 93 bird incidents were recorded as at September 17, 2022, but 32 of this occurred in just two months."

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Operator speaks

Obi Mbanuzuo, accountable manager/chief operating officer, Dana Airlines, once told Journalists that bird strikes are one of the challenges facing airlines, especially during rainy seasons.

"It is always warm in Africa, and there is a lot of vegetation around the airports." The airports in the United States are made of concrete. Birds like vegetation, so airports are supposed to have bird prevention measures in place to scare them away, but unfortunately, some of our airports do not."

NRC Suspends Abuja-Kaduna Train Operations After Bomb Attack

Legit.ng has reported that following a deadly attack by gunmen on the night of Monday, March 28, the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has suspended its Abuja-Kaduna train operations.

The NRC announced its decision in a brief statement on Twitter on Tuesday, March 29, via a tweet seen by The Cable.

The corporation said its suspension of operations on the route was necessitated by “unforeseen circumstances”.

Source: Legit.ng