Safety: FAAN reviews Airport Emergency Plan

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has reviewed its Airport Emergency Plan to enhance safety of lives and property during incidents and accidents.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the review was concluded by FAAN on Wednesday during a stakeholders meeting at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
The stakeholders who participated in the review include aviation agencies, security agencies, emergency response agencies, airline operators, ground handling companies as well as community leaders.
In her welcome address, Victoria Shin-Abba, Regional General Manager, South West Airports, FAAN, said the AEP was one of the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Shin-Abba said: “The objective of airport emergency planning is to anticipate the effects an emergency may have on life, property and aerodrome operations.
“It is also to prepare courses of action to minimise these effects, particularly in respect to saving of lives.”
According to her, it also clarifies roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders and establishes a mechanism for feedback and recommendations for programme improvement.
She noted that previous air incidents in the country had made it necessary for all stakeholders to work together toward achieving the common goal of minimising the impact on lives and property.
Shin-Abba charged the stakeholders to be alive to their specific responsibilities as detailed in chapter four of the AEP, stressing that this would help to reduce fatalities during air accidents.
Also, Uche Igumba, Principal Airport Fire Officer, MMIA, said that the AEP was set up in 2017 and was therefore 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 said that they should, however, remain vigilant because incidents and accidents were part of aviation and there was need to always be prepared to activate the emergency response plan.