OPERATIONS at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos are currently being hampered by a fault in the radar system.
The Guardian learnt that the fault, which occurred last Friday, was caused by an electric power surge, which blew the screen of the radar system.
Since the incident, air traffic controllers have been coping with difficulties in the separation of flights at the Lagos aerodrome, while the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has been trying to rectify the problem.
RADAR, an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects like aircraft, ships, weather formations and terrain.
The spokesman for NAMA, Mr. Supo Atobatele, confirmed the development to journalists yesterday, but explained that the authorities were working hard to remedy the situation.
He said: “The management has moved in to quickly rectify the situation, as providing excellent air traffic services is one of the top priorities of NAMA.”
The spokesman hinted that despite the shortcomings, air traffic services were being “provided efficiently at the airport.”
But an air traffic controller admitted that the failure was seriously hampering air traffic control, however, allayed fears over the development.
The source said: “Although we are doing it manually, we can still guarantee air safety. The management is doing a lot to rectify the problems.”
There are strong indications that the Abuja Airport radar is also not working at optimum capacity.
A pilot, who spoke to The Guardian, said pilots had been having to cope with the epileptic nature of the system at the airport.