Why We Can’t Locate Crashed Plane – NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has attributed its inability to locate the missing airplane which took off from Kaduna recently to the failure of aircraft operators in the country to register their planes with the National Communications Commission (NCC).

Had such registration been effected NEMA would have been in pole position to use its COSPASSASAT Satellite to locate the crash or any other in the Africa sub-region by tracking its beacon.

The Director General (DG) of NEMA Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Sidi told LEADERSHIP yesterday that many aircraft operators did not comply after the agency asked them to register their aircraft beacons with the NCC.

“Presently, it will be very difficult for the agency to locate crashed plane because our data base is supposed to have the beacon of every aircraft. The aircraft operators are supposed to register with the NCC which will also help us in the search and rescue operation

“Recently, we faced a tough time in Kaduna trying to locate the scene of a crashed plane and similar incidence occurred in the past. We do not want such to happen again. If the aircraft operators register with the NCC, NEMA will be able to detect any scene of plane crash. Even if the plane is faulty, we will be able to locate the place”, Sani-Sidi stated

The NEMA boss however, said that the agency had summoned a meeting with the management of the NCC to compel all airline operators to register their planes stressing that the situation is affecting the agency’s operations. ?
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