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Lagos Gets Lighting on 18L After 5 Years Without
According to the Nigerian press, NAMA engineers laid 66 'Kalkit' emergency lights and 2 sets of approach lights so that runway 18L can finally be used after 5 years of day-only operations. Has anybody else heard of Kalkit lights? Are they meant to be permanent runway lighting or for temporary use in an emergency? Have night operations to runway 18L really recommenced?
The domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, came alive on Tuesday, as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) successfully deployed the emergency airfield lighting on its runway. The equipment was deployed on the popular 2.7 km runway `18 Left’. Mr Supo Atobatele, the General Manager (Public Affairs) of NAMA, announced this to Aviation Correspondents in Lagos. He said that the deployment had put an end to more than five years of flight restrictions placed on daylight operations at the local wing of the airport. ``The absence of the airfield lighting on the runway for half a decade had forced the domestic airlines to land after sunset at the international wing of the airport,’’ he said. Atobatele said that the development had compelled domestic aircraft at MMA to burn extra fuel to taxi down to their various terminals before disembarking their passengers. ``This looks like a Christmas gift to the airlines, travellers and Nigerians in general. ``It is made possible by the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring speedy clearance of passengers and their goods by the Customs at the domestic terminal of the MMA. ``It is also due to the foresight of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, who ensured quality service delivery at the nation's airports,’’ he said. ``In all, 66 KALKIT brands of emergency airfield lights and additional two approach lights had been deployed by NAMA engineers,’’ he added. KALKIT is the airfield lighting system that was certified by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA). Atobatele said: ``This means that the product is of international standard and safe for deployment in any part of the world.’’ He quoted Mr Nnamdi Udoh, the Managing Director of NAMA, as commending the commitment of the engineers. ``They have defied all the family pressures at this Yuletide to deliver the immediate deployment of this vital navigational facility on the runway,’’ he added. |
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5N-OSA,
Thanks for the information. The Nigerian press obviously got the spelling wrong and I was too dumb to think of changing the letters :\. It seems to be a temporary system as it's battery powered. I wonder if they're going to take the batteries away every day and recharge them? That'll be quite a job. |
Its true, the lights are there and working, however they won't allow you to land on 18L until they have posted a NOTAM regarding the lights.
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Landed on 18L yesterday at around 1600Z yesterday in 6000m visibility, the so called lights were not visible until 1 nm from the runway. Maybe they were on low intensity but what I saw looks nowhere near good enough for night ops.
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Crap as usual
This is absolute thrash,deploy emergency lighting on a permanent basis.Is this what we have waited 5 years for?This is an insult to our collective psyche.This minister must be a real big joke.This is supposed to be service delivery?Such crap,what a way to end the year.:\:suspect:
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Lagos Lighting
If they are single units I suspect they may slowly "walk away" to provide needed lighting at other places and not the runway!
What did they actually cost and what did DNMM pay for them? |
Jokers..... This is a way for the minister to state she has achieved more in her tenure than her predecessors besides building new terminals. What are the airlines doing about this? The MD's and DFOs should lead a charge to the senate and ask for compensation for the fuel used taxing back and fourth at night. Long live the Nigerian Aviation sector.
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working
I used the lights today, they still won't allow night landings but R18L can now be used for night take offs. did one today and the intensity was nice.
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svaever
@svaever,
Were u by any chance at the controls of the Aero 734 that took off 18L at 0520Z today? No NOTAMS have been issued yet to allow night ops on 18L so I'll advise we tread with caution. Might be good for takeoff but me thinks it ain't good enough for landing at night in the current hazy conditions being experienced in Lagos. |
nope
Nope I fly jearjet
I am surprised how well it actually works, but no doubt It isn't a long term solution. We can actually land without doing anything wrong, as the jepp plate states that the runway have lights :) |
"We can actually land without doing anything wrong, as the jepp plate states that the runway have lights"
I dunno about that.........Lol On a more serious note and back to the main topic , will this lights be operational until the real deal " lighting " is installed or is this as close to the real deal we will get. Totally avoiding 18L at Night:= |
But Balewa what happened to the lights that were removed during the so called resurfacing of 18L.......
This smells like another racket between NAMA and the inept ministry of aviation officials. After five years I believe we deserve better than this. I'll also refuse any clearances for 18L at night and suggest we all do until they let the stake holders know what their real intentions are concerning fixing permanent lighting system for this runway and a time frame till they do should be taken. These people believe that those of us actually making use of these facilities are absolutely stupid and gullible ...:= well |
Zaz,
I'm sure you know well-well, that this is nothing to do with a proper long-term solution to the lighting for runway 18L, but just to make Princess Stella and a few others seem to be doing something to improve the dire situation in the nation's busiest international airport :\ |
Reading this and feeling sad
The chairman and CEOs of Nigerian airlines are poor in mind; challenge NAMA on this. Request for compensation for time and money lost taxiing in and out of 18L and 18R for domestic operations!
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NOTAM has been released saying 18L can be used for night departures but not arrivals.
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The threshold lights keep getting blown away by jet blast. Hope these lights don't get ingested into an engine:uhoh:.
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