Airline safety

The recent crash of a Nigerian airliner in Lagos with more than 150 people on board, including a Gambian, has pointed up yet again the need to make our airspace much safer, in the interest of humanity.

Seven years ago, another Nigerian airline also crashed in Nigeria, and two Gambians were also involved. It is hoped that this occurrences do not establish itself a trend.

Already, questions are being raised about the airworthiness of the Nigerian Boeing MD-83 airline.

In fact, many are now skeptical about the safety of some of our airlines, and are even suggesting a world blacklist of carriers deemed unsafe.

Yet this is no time for bickering; it is time for action.

It is up to the international community, for instance, to release its blacklist of carriers with immediate effect so that prospective passengers would have a reasonable degree of assurance that the plane they are about to board is not a ‘flying coffin’. This is the feeling all around at the moment.

Besides, many others who remain skeptical about the air-worthiness of some of the airlines especially those operating in West Africa, other regional bodies and the Nigerian government in particular should and must be seen to take immediate steps to compile lists of aircraft that are no longer airworthy.

In compiling this list, nothing should be taken for granted. The overriding consideration should be the safety of people.

Though accidents do happen, some of the air crashes could have been avoided if more care had been taken to carry out a rigorous inspection prior to departure.

As an immediate measure, planes that are no longer airworthy should be grounded without delay. Extra inspection should be conducted on aircraft shortly before their departure.

Pilots should be extra vigilant about the state of their aircraft; they should not at any point in time ignore any abnormality in their aircraft.

“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”.

Eldridge Cleaver