Sade Williams/Business a.m.
An International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) wildlife hazard control equipment designed to tackle the menace of bird strikes at airports across the country has been commissioned by Olubunmi Kuku, the managing director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Kuku also said that the equipment would help to improve safety in the aviation industry.
She spoke at the commissioning of the ICAO Wildlife Hazard Control Equipment at the Murtala Muhammed Airport ( MMA), Lagos, recently.
Kuku, who was represented by Abdullahi Mohmood, director of airport operations, pointed out that FAAN, having seen how dangerous bird strikes can be to safety over the years, decided to enhance its equipment to fight the threat posed by wildlife to air safety.
“Today we have received the equipment from ICAO and we are going to commission it and after commissioning distribute it to the various Airports across the country where it will be properly utilised in mitigating wildlife hazards that are facing us daily,” Kuku said.
Speaking further, Kuku said, “Most of you are fully aware of recent happenings, where we had so much incidences of bird strikes but fortunately at least it did not lead to an accident unlike other places, even if it is not an accident, sometimes you find serious damage to the engines of the aircraft and the airline face serious challenges in flight in form of disruption. Sometimes, it causes a lot of disruptions, ranging from flight delays to cancellations.”
The FAAN boss thanked the airline operators for their patience and cooperation and that despite the challenges they faced, they still supported and cooperated with the organisation.
