planes at the airports being used as cover for any plot that could
compromise security informed the order to remove such assets. But the
effort has not been without some drama, writeAhamefula Ogbu, Chinedu
Eze and Emmanuella Okorie
Three things informed the removal of disused aircrafts from airports
across the country: the threat by Boko Haram to attack Nigeria's
economic hub, the desire to curb the bird strikes as birdsbuild nests
in the parked planes and the removal of psychological effect of
unserviceable planes, some of which crashed and parked at aircraft
take-off point.
Unknown to many, the exercise was well planned and coordinated by the
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) which also aimed to free
about two acres of land where the planes were parked, popularly called
the "mortuary".
According Mr. Joel Obi, minister of aviation, Stella Oduah's
spokesman, though the ministry did not have direct dealings with the
removal of the planes, it backed the move because, "they were
unsightly and constituted grave danger for obvious reasons. It forms
part of the efforts to tidy up the airports and make them safer for
users".
However, barring the incident a few weeks ago where Lagos residents
awoke to find two jets parked along Oshodi-Apapa expressway some
metres from Sanya bus stop and another at Ighando road, people would
not have known that the exercise was ongoing except on learning so
from the media.
An old problem
According to Yakubu Datti, FAAN's general manager in charge
ofcorporate communication, "the issue of disused aircraft has been one
of the issues that have been bedeviling the aviation sector. Weare
talking about several aircrafts belonging to different airlines that
have been lying dormant at the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed
airport for up to 10 years and these are aircrafts that are at the
terminals whereby when there is take off, you see them.
"It was totally against any form of security or safety. In the first
place in the case of safety, you are aware that bird strikes have been
one of the major causes of aircraft accidents, so these abandoned
aircrafts at the terminals created an easy nest for the birds to
remain and they were just at the point of take off. So you now have an
accident waiting to happen because by the time the birds come out when
the flights are waiting to take off, an air mishap can happen.
"Secondly in this era of terrorism when vehicles are being used as
shells for bombing, leaving such things provides easy arsenal for
terrorism; so for safety issues especially we were given a mandateto
ensure we evacuated those aircrafts immediately for the purposeof
security and that was done because it was at the height of these
bombardments by the terrorists where they also bombed theUN
headquarters and there were threats that they were going to attack the
artery of the economy which is the airport, so we neededto act on that
directive immediately for the purpose of security and safety."
A stitch in time
Datti continued: "We had almost 65 abandoned aircrafts across the
country and the models range from Fokker 28, Embrear 100 to Boeing 727
and 737 which occupied over two acres of land inLagos alone and these
are very strategic lands that were needed for the transformation. For
a long time, we had asked owners of these aircrafts to take them away
but the people refused to do the right thing and so when this order
came in, it became incumbent on us to do it and we ensured that we
took all the necessary steps in conjunction with our now developed
legal department. We were able to write the owners, gave them time to
evacuate them; some responded and some who did not, after the
expiration, there was also another extension given with due publicity
and when it expired, we moved in and cleared the aircraft."
While some responded, others did not which prompted them to consider
the proposal by some people to be allowed to remove themand use the
parts to offset the cost of the removal
FAAN denied it made money out of the removal saying, "we did not make
money because in the first place, the process of making money will not
allow us to achieve the objective which was to remove the present
danger as at then and ensure that within one week, all the 13
aircrafts had been broken down and removed."
The controversy
Datti denied they towed any of the aircrafts that were ordered to be
removed and denied having a hand in the jets that caused a stir when
residents woke up to see them parked by the roadside prompting a hoax
that they had crashed.
"The ones that were seen on the roads are a separate issue; they were
planes that were parked elsewhere, outside the airport but in one of
the facilities under the confines of Nigerian Airports Management
Agency. Those were part of the aircrafts that were tobe moved away but
the ones that were directly on the terminal were the ones that created
immediate security issues which was what we did," he said.
On the procedure to be adopted, he said: "We had insisted on
dismembering the aircrafts where they were parked and removing them.
We also created a window for owners to take them away, so those who
showed willingness we allowed to take them and the waythey take them
was their responsibility. When it comes to movement of aircraft on the
road, I am sure there are relevant agencies that have that
responsibility. We are in charge of airportsand our responsibility
ends at the airport.
"We have the Federal Road Safety Commission, we have the police who
are constitutionally mandated to look at issues that have to do with
road transportation. They may have overlapping responsibilities but
once something leaves our airport it leaves our confines. For
instance, I cannot go to somebody who has convertedan aeroplane into a
restaurant for inspection because it has left our confines and there
are clearly defined responsibilities in a democracy and we have to
restrict ourselves to our areas of responsibility. If someone moves an
aeroplane on the roads, it raises safety concerns on the roads and
that is where the police and road safety commission comes in."
So far all the abandoned aircrafts in Lagos are said to have been
removed. Datti said they were almost through with Abuja as "it is
almost finished. In Kano it is ongoing. Benin is where we have a
little challenge because some of the aircraft belong to the defunct
Okada Air, and they have a hangar there. We have been discussing to
see how they can either move them to their hangar orelsewhere but we
have invited our legal department to see ways we can persuade them
because these are issues of safety and security."
Removal not an emergency
The National Emergency Management Agency public relations officer for
South-West zone, Ibrahimn Farinloye, said they were inundated with
calls when the jets were sighted but discovered they were not crashed
planes. "When we received the alert around 11.00pm that there was an
air crash and we went and found out that it was scrap we informed the
people. We were not informed when it was being towed as it was not an
emergency. We are only involved in emergencies which towing of a
disused aircraft is not," he said.
When the buzz about the crash were on, Nigerian Airspace Management
Agency under whose custody the said planes were parked came out to
deny any crash as their equipment did not capture any crash or missing
plane. Its director general, Nnamdi Udoh, was reported as saying that
the junk belonged to the late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel
Ministries and was released toCaptain M.J. Ekeinde.
"The aircraft was actually released to Captain M.J. Ekeinde who will
be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. A cross
section of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new
location.
"I affirm again that NAMA facilities are working at optimal level and
this could have assisted in detecting any missing plane withinthe
nation's airspace. While we appreciate the concern of the public on
sighting the plane at an unusual site, we urge that people should
always contact police and local government officials for proper
information before spreading the news on incident involving any
aircraft."
Quite a scare
Asked if he was aware of the towing of the planes on the road,
theLagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Nseobong
Akpabio, said: "We were not informed, we were not involved. We thought
it was a crash. They said they contacted the police, they did not
contact us.
"People contacted us that there was a crashed plane at a filling
station, so we thought it was a crashed plane until we did an
investigation and discovered it was not a crash. We contacted the
police and they said it was done at night when the road was free".
Asked if the towing of aircraft on roads did not contravene any law,
he admitted that "they don't tow aircraft on the road but somehow,
they contacted the police. Road Safety ought to have been informed on
time for possible assistance but in this case, they did not inform
us."
On whether they arrested anybody, Akpabio quipped, "why should we
arrest? We did not make any arrests".
Possible Uses
Disused planes can be used for training and could serve as
touristattractions. In some countries there are those that have
converted them to restaurants. People can use the parts to recycle in
terms of plastics companies or furniture companies. Even though they
cannot fly, the shells are still of value.
Aircraft boneyard is a term for a storage area for aircraft that are
retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for
storage or turned into scrap metal. Deserts, such as those in the
Southwestern United States, are good locations for boneyards since the
dry conditions reduce corrosion.
Notable aircraft boneyards
Boeing B-52s in storage or awaiting deconstruction in Arizona
• Kingman Airport, Kingman, Arizona
• Phoenix Goodyear Airport, Goodyear, Arizona
• Pinal Airpark, Marana, Arizona
• 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, Davis-Monthan
Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona
• Southern California Logistics Airport, Victorville, California
• Mojave Air & Space Port, California
• Roswell International Air Center, Roswell, New Mexico contains the
remains of several large passenger and cargo jets, including atleast
two Boeing 747s and five Boeing 707s.
• Abilene Regional Airport in Abilene, Texas is home to many retired
Saab 340 aircraft, primarily from American Eagle Airlines.
• RAF Aircraft Storage Flight, RAF Shawbury
• Alice Springs Airport in Alice Springs, Northern Territory is the
first large-scale aircraft boneyard outside the United States.
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