Stakeholders in airport Operations have converged on the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, to review the Airport Emergency Plan AEP, to minimise loss of lives and properties in the event of an Accident, incidents and serious incidents.
The manager of the airports, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) says the review was over due to promote safety.
The Manager South West Airports, FAAN,Mrs Victoria Shinaba in her address of welcome at the meeting said the AEP was one of the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
She said the previous air incidents in the country had necessitated the need for all stakeholders to work together towards achieving the common goal of minimising the impact on lives and property.
Shin-Abba said :” The objective of airport emergency planning is to anticipate the effects an emergency might have on life, property and aerodrome operations.
“It is also to prepare courses of action to minimise these effects particularly in respect to saving lives.”
According to her, the review would further help to clarify roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders, put in place a mechanism for feedback and recommendations for programme improvement.
While appealing to the stakeholders to be alive to their specific responsibilities as detailed in chapter four of the AEP, she emphasized that this would help to reduce fatalities during air accidents.
The Principal Airport Fire Officer, MMIA, Mr Uche Igumba, said the AEP was long over due for a review to allow the stakeholders to make fresh inputs that would ensure better implementation.
Igumba commended the stakeholders for their support towards its success, noting that the MMIA had excelled in various mock safety exercises conducted in the past two years.
He urged them to remain vigilant because incidents and accidents were part of aviation and there was need to always be prepared to activate the emergency response plan.
The stakeholders who participated in the review included aviation agencies, security agencies, emergency response agencies, airline operators, ground handling companies as well as community leaders.
