Published December 6th, 2024
By Chinwendu Eugene
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has expressed preparedness in responding to air crashes and other emergencies at airports across the country.
FAAN, which conducted a simulation air crash rescue operation at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, MMA, Lagos, Thursday, oversaw the exercise with the deployment of two fire tenders from the Aerodrome Rescue & Fire Fighting Service, ARFFS, a department in FAAN that responds to an emergencies at the airport.
The fire tenders put out a raging inferno from a Boeing 737 aircraft which skidded off the runway on landing on the 18L/36R of the Lagos airport to the compass wing area, suffering leakage of fuel.
No fewer than 45 souls, including five crew members, were onboard the aircraft as at the time of the mock accident.
Speaking after the exercise, Regional General Manager, South West, FAAN, Mr Olatokunbo Arewa, said: “This is one of the requirements of ICAO as stated in the document of airport emergency plans that we have to show that we are ready to attend to an emergency whenever it occurs. Though, we don’t pray for any emergency, but we need to prepare and get ready whenever it occurs within the airport. The exercise is once every two years.
“Our response team got to the scene right on time to really discharge their duties to ensure that all souls onboard were rescued and save as much as possible the equipment on ground from being burnt.”
Lauding the response time of the firefighters, General Manager, Station Commander, Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting Services, MMA, Mrs Dolapo Fakunle, said the response time was achieved in less than two minutes, while the simulated fire was put out within three minutes.
She said: “With the firefighting equipment we have on ground now, we are more than ready to combat any emergency. I am bold to say that. We have good and serviceable fire service vehicles on ground.”
