First flights over/to Africa

[l8fr8]

I'm looking for general input on flying over Africa with Lagos, Nigeria as the destination (BRU - LOS). Any gotchas or safety tips would be appreciated. Also, any insight to Lagos layovers would be helpful. Thanks.

[MarkerInbound]

The safety tip would be to stay away from Lagos! These are the folks that will clear you to run on a closed runway and when you say you have a NOTAM saying it is closed will tell you it is open. End result was the write off of a 747. Go in with your eyes wide open.

Never had to RON so can't say anything.

[BelArgUSA]

In most areas of Africa - you are by yourself.
Do not trust ATC traffic separation. Applies to Nigeria...
Be sure to call ahead a few minutes before crossing FIRs...
Talk to other planes on 126.9...
Call your position blind VHF or HF as required.
xxx
At points with heavy crossing traffic, turn on lights, and look.
Especially during "Hajj Pilgrimage" season (2009 = OCT-DEC)
I personally used to fly 200-300 feet above/below assigned levels.
Nowadays - RVSM - I wonder how it goes...
RON - Lagos - Let me laugh... Kano and Lagos are not my favorite.
Same for alternates such as Kaduna or Maiduguri...
xxx
I ate a few big birds in nº 4 engine taking off from Lagos. Ruined the JT9D.
West side of Lagos runway wooded area where these birds are waiting for you.
Be sure the guy is shooting at birds with his 12 gage when you plan to takeoff.
The only decent place for a few days RON in Nigeria is Abuja.
Be careful with food - stay away from salads.
Brush your teeth with bottled water.
And pray you dont get to RON in the RDC "Congo Kinshasa"...
xxx
OK places in Africa are -
Abidjan, Dakar, Accra, Douala, Libreville, Luanda, Capetown...
And if you are single, read AIDS statistics.
xxx
:}
Happy contrails

[CJ750]

l8fr8First flights over/to Africa



Africa is not for the faint hearted.

Have a recommended handler which you can get through the agent obtaining your overflight and landing clearances. Have lots of USD cash with you. Organise your fuel well in advance. Do not eat salads at the hotels. Do not have ice in your drinks and do not use the tap water to brush your teeth with. Allow a lot of time to travel between the hotel and airport in Lagos.

Transmit on 126.9 and keep a watch on the ATC's. They are also difficult to understand sometimes. I am going to Lagos this week if you would like some more info on costs this time next week. What will you be going there with.

[Voel]

Have enough US Dollars or Euros on you to pay for bribes:\, referred to as handling fees.:} And obviously the exhorbant fuel prices

[square-head]

Make sure you do not have any missing pages (US Dollars) in your passport when presenting it to immigtaion:=

[l8fr8]

Thanks for all the responses. I'll be in Lagos the first time May 16th, flying numerous trips over a three week period between BRU & LOS on a DHL charter. I've been reading the ICAO bulletin on IFBP. I have also recieved a briefing guide on African Op's from DHL. All good stuff. Thanks again for the comments.

[CJ750]

Arrived in Lagos 2 am this morning. Hope you have everything organised as everyone tries to have their own way of doing things and there are lots of unidentifiable people at the door when you open up. Maybe different for freight. I have Self Loading Freight. Very humid here.

Good Luck....

[Cecco]

Hello, what are those frequencies 126.7 and 126.9 you referred to. Is it like 123.45? Where is RON (pray you don´t get to RON in the RDC Congo Kinshasa???). I´m also intending to take along a bundle of USD. Where do you put the cash stock? Do you hide it somewhere in the aircraft or what do you do with it? Do you put a seal on the aircraft door so you can be sure that nobody tried to get into the aircraft?

Thanks for your input,
Cecco

[Chernoch]

126.9 is the Official ICAO frequency for Africa for transmitting Position reports.
Check on your High/Low Jepp charts,Very good for organising Seperation as ATC in Africa are more concerned at causing Collisions hence ATC = African Training Collision academy.

[Cecco]

I understand you use 126.9 when VHF is not available anymore. You just follow your flight planned route and look up the corresponding VHF frequency and contact them when you approach controlled airspace again (we have no HF...)?

[helldog]

Cecco you use this freq at all times. Even when you are in VHF contact, they are broadcasts to other traffic. Eg broadcast:

All stations this is Speedbird 123 FL310 Southbound London to Joburg Via the UM123, postion ***** at 0034 estimate ***** at 0113. Speedbird 123 FL310 southbound.

The exact format is on the En Route chatrs but thats quite close I think.

[groundfloor]

No HF? Better check that out.. Some African states will ground you or use it as an excuse to if you are parked on their airport. Ie inbound to Luanda and they ask why no HF contact and you reply you don`t have HF - expect some "interesting times" once you are parked. Anyone operating out of Angola know if this is still the case? Was in the mid 90`s - had to have HF.

[Cecco]

You got a point there. I rely on our dispatch service. I have asked them several times. According to them, we will get by without HF on our route (Angola is not planned on our trip).

[Cecco]

I8fr8 you have a PM

[contrabando]

I just finished a six month tour in wind-blown, dusty, dry, God-forsaken Sudan with an S/A contractor. My best advice for flying over, or worse yet, into Africa is to go with your eyes covered by a blindfold and your nose covered with something that restricts that passage. A SCUBA tank or supplemental oxygen would be good too. Whatever you do...DO NOT LOOK, DO NOT BREATHE, DO NOT LAND EVEN IF YOU RUN OUT OF FUEL...YES, CRASHING AND DIEING IS MUCH MORE PREFERABLE TO AN ACTUAL LANDING IN AFRICA...except for S/A...and even that is giving me pause for thought! I AM SERIOUS!

[Cecco]

Maybe you could be more specific....

[asacrj]

yes contrabando, could you be a little more specific.
Very strange comment coming from somebody from mexico

[jetpet]

then again, what do u expect from an 8yr old!!....

[Maurice Chavez]

126.90 is the IFBP frequency, designed by IATA, not ICAO and is still very much in use. As an IATA carrier it is mandatory for you to use this frequency!

[Cecco]

Back now from Africa as first-timer, I can give some advice myself: first of all, it is great fun to fly there. Now, here some things that have to be taken into consideration:
-if you are supposed to receive your flight docs from your dispatch by fax/e-mail, make sure to get them well in advance before your next flight. The chase for a fax machine/internet including the possibility to open pdf file&print turned out to be the biggest challenge (in central african countries) on my trip.
-the airport authorities always want a copy of your flightplan. They need to distribute/send it it even if your dispatch has already done that. That way, the FIRs on your ways get notified (hopefully...)
-ATC often wants you to give you a radial plus DME to check your position or includes a radial with altitude (e.g cross radial 178 at 6000 feet or above) in your take-off clearance. Also, be prepared to give estimates of the ETOs on your waypoints along your flightplan.
-You get by without HF. On some routes like Lusaka-Brazzaville, crossing Angola, or N´djamena-Tripoli, crossing the Sahara, we stepped on HF-only terrain but we called for a relay then on 126.9 and got through without problems
-bribes are not a big deal. Often, the employees at the airports simply wanted something to eat and drink. Someone turning up at FCBB wanted 25$ for providing chocks for 2 days, at FTTJ, they wanted 20$ as "personal supplement"
-If you fly to places, where it is very hot like Khartoum or N´djamena, DO NOT fill the tanks to the top (unless it is just for a quick fuel stop), fuel expands to unexpected degrees... We had our CJ1+ filled up arriving in Khartoum in the evening and continued the next day at 2 p.m. When I got to the plane the next day (42 degrees celsius), the fuel was dripping out of the fuel vents with notable puddles below the wings...not a very nice sight
-the overflight&landing permission are valid for 24-72 hours. It is not a big deal to postpone your flight in this period. If, however, you want to leave earlier than the EOBT in your flight plan, you might run into trouble because the permission´s clock starts running at the ETD. If you want to leave earlier than that, the permissions have to be updated; in other words, old permission deleted, new permission has to be issued, which takes time.
-the African ATC system in general (now that includes most countries from north to south) is not as bad as you think. We never had any delay, let alone got blocked.
-as it has already been mentioned, carry sufficient cash with you; except in the very north and south, airport taxes have to be paid cash (arrange to have fuel releases for your stops otherwise you have to pay that cash too...)

Fly safe and have fun,
Cecco