Louis Ibah
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Lagos State government, at the weekend, sealed a pact to jointly work to curb the danger posed to safe flight operations by unauthorised high-rise structures scattered around aircraft flight paths in the Lagos metropolis.
The pact came after a bilateral meeting between top officials of NCAA and the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, and the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. The first meeting was held on April 26, 2018 while the second meeting of May 17, 2018 held at the NCAA headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos, provided the final resolutions to guide both parties to achieve their targets.
Spokesperson for NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, told aviation journalists on Sunday that part of the resolutions involved NCAA providing the two Lagos State agencies with a ‘Flight Path Map’ to guide them in planning, development and granting of approvals for new structures in the state so that aircraft paths are left free of all forms of high-rise structures.
The pact also empowers the two parastatals of the Lagos State government to deploy their capacities in clearing all existing obstructions/obstacles along flight paths within the state. In addition, their resources will be used to spot where other landing facilities are located in Lagos to clear the path of all forms of obstructions. These landing facilities include Heliport, Helipad, Helideck and Airstrip. Adurogboye, therefore, said all intending property developers or builders of high-rise structures within the Aerodrome Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) should always apply to the authority for Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) and permit before embarking on such projects in order not to run foul of the law.
“The NCAA is ready to enter into any partnership that will guarantee the safety and security of flight operations,” Adurogboye said.
Pilots and airline operators have repeatedly complained to NCAA of a recent surge in unauthorised high-rise buildings and telecommunication masts along aircraft flight paths in Lagos, which they noted could pose harm to safe flights when the aircraft has to descend as low as below 12 meters to sight the runway markings or lightnings for safe landing.