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| Dr. Ona Ekhomu, President AISSON |
President of Association of Industrial Security and Safety
Operators of Nigeria (AISSON), Dr. Ona Ekhomu has blamed non-recovery of any life
from the Dana Air crash last Sunday on lack of quick response by emergency
agencies in the country.
Ekhomu, who is also an aviation security consultant noted that
poor disaster response was responsible for the huge death toll in the Dana Air
flight 992 Disaster, on June 3, 2012.
He also said that if disaster response had been prompt and
effective some of the trapped victims in the plane would have been rescued
before the fuel tank explosion that sealed their fate.
Dr. Ekhomu, an international security expert and authority on
aviation security said that once the Pilot, Captain Peter Waxtam declared a
May-Day based upon the engine problem his aircraft was having, emergency
responders should have tracked the trajectory of the stricken jet in order to
know where it would land in order to save lives on board.
According to the expert it was a shame on Nigerian disaster
responders, that this crash occurred in an urban setting, yet no soul was
rescued.
He said that the Dana Air Flight 992 crash showed the weak
under-belly of Nigerian disaster response infrastructure.
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| Nigerians helping agencies to take pipe to sceen:courtesy sharphap.com |
He listed some of the disaster response agencies, including
the fire services, the government's technical aviation agencies, National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency
(LASEMA), and the various Police agencies led by the Nigeria Police Force.
Ekhomu maintained that the airlines also had a duty to have
sound disaster response plans which would kick in once a jet is stricken,
stressing that the Airline disaster plan would appoint an emergency coordinator
who will martial help to the aircraft in distress.
He equally called for Incident Command System (ICS) to be
adopted in Nigeria, pointing out that this would help to order a disaster scene
ensuring that there was smooth co-ordination among disaster management
agencies.
He also called for proper site security at air crash sites
which will define an inner cordon or (hot zone) which is the actual crash site,
a warm zone or buffer area – also known as transition zone, and a cold zone or
outer area where normal activities will go on such as media briefing, temporary
mortuary, triage, staging area and spectator area.
Dr. Ekhomu counseled that anytime there was an air crash,
armed troops should be deployed to protect the crash site and enforce site
security along with Police personnel and civil defenders.
“An air crash is a national security event and should not be
left to area boys to manage,” he said, adding that this would help in deploring
forces to block off access roads to Dana Air crash site by on lookers and area
boys, otherwise it would prevent responders to reach victims in a timely
manner.
He advised the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed D.
Abubakar to order Police personnel to search buildings proximate to the crash
site and arrest persons who freely stole property from the crash site.
Our reporters
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This is clearly a wake up call not only for the agency involved but more importantly for the country as well. They should overhaul their disaster management and control big time. If this would have happened in the United States, aside from investigators flocking the site minutes after the emergency, there would also be a throng of airplane accident lawyer rushing to the scene.
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