The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) possesses comprehensive radar footage of the two aircraft that recently entered forbidden regions, according to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The authority added that NAMA possessed complete information regarding the aircraft and operators’ identities.
According to the NCAA, this was only made possible by the Primary and Secondary Surveillance Radars in Abuja being operational. Lagos, Kano, and Port-Harcourt have installations akin to this one.
After an aircraft was spotted hovering near the presidential mansion, the NCAA recently sent out a warning to owners and operators of aircraft to refrain from flying to restricted zones.
The NCAA said that it had issued an All Operators Letter (AOL DGCA/021/24) in accordance with its regulatory obligations, using the standard security phrasing when reporting “unknown aircraft.”
In a statement, the NCAA said that claims implying that the Nigerian airspace is unsafe because radar coverage is insufficient had caught its attention.
“The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency’s (NAMA) statement regarding the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) is fully supported by the NCAA.”
“In support of this, NCAA looked into two recent incidents of controlled planes in controlled airspace that strayed into restricted airspace due to unfavorable weather, and found that both breaches involved controlled flights in DNP4 zones in Abuja.”
“However, as previously stated, investigations found that NAMA had full footage and details of the aircraft that entered the banned flight zone. The writer, obviously unfamiliar with the technical operations of radar systems, should have simply consulted the appropriate professionals to be educated accordingly,” the NCAA noted.
The NCAA went on to explain that while the Primary Surveillance Radar alone only recognises aircraft as moving targets devoid of aircraft identity, the Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR), a key element of the TRACON, is capable of identifying any aircraft that is outfitted with an ATC Mode “S” transponder.
“All aircraft flying in controlled airspace must have operable ATC transponders, which is an international regulation that Nigeria strictly adheres to. Part 7 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations contains the documentation for this requirement, which is taken from Annex 6 of the Convention on International Aviation.”
According to the NCAA, “this means that turning off this system while flying in controlled airspace is a violation of the regulations and a security breach. Such action would attract appropriate sanctions in accordance with NCAA’s enforcement procedures, including possible criminal referral.”
The NCAA claimed that in regards to the welfare of air traffic controllers (ATCOs), it had just lately been involved in a dispute between ATCOs and NAMA on the latter’s demand for better pay and working conditions.
In terms of enhancing Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure, the NCAA stated that in addition to the four already-existing radar centres, five more MSSR stations are being added at Obubbra, Ilorin, Talata Mafara, Maiduguri, and Numan to support the country’s radar coverage.
