Lagos- The freight apron

[gema]

Hi all Freight Dogs who do the freight thing in LOS. From 16 Oct thru 31 Oct we had the "no fuel" problem. Then the "no drivers of fuel truck" problem. On going is the inadequate facilities at the "Cargo Village". CR2 no ill intentions but the "rats" are human size down there.

So the purpose of this - Anybody have any ideas on how to remove the B707s and other scrap from the freight apron so that Freighters can use the hydrant points located near them.

Who has an email/sita for FAAN Ramp Safety office ? I do indeed wish to at least try and set up a pressure group and clean up the freight apron. All welcome to email me with yr suggestions. I will tdy ctc IATA Nairobi and see if they can assist. For the landing/parking/overflight charges we pay, there should at least be some improvements.

All comments appreciated.

And then - the loadmaster ctcs you and says- doors at 0550 - you breathe a sigh and say - 2h47 for fuel- what a bargain. You think to yrslf -AB at 0600 and into the blks by 11h15. This is going to be a good day. A coffee later and that darn cell rings again. Hey they just shut the airfield down. No radio coms, cant get start clearance and the guys nxt to us having the same sh..... So now once again old Africa Time comes into play. Send the crew to Hotel or wait it out. Naw- will give then another 30mins or so and see what happens. Our rep may just come back with good news (I have my doubts). Just another Lagos experience.

[gema]

And now the news from Lagos is that the ATC controllers are on strike in sympathy for one of their colleagues who had disiplenary action taken against him. All points call out to management to man the hot seats. I just love aviation. Hours and hours of shear boredom puntuated by moments of absolute -terror/humor/frustration/frustration/frustration

[gema]

At last the controlers give start clr 0854z and we are AB at 0910z eta JNB 1425z. This is all in a day's work thru the "Freight Apron" at Lagos.
this then is Lagos today 11 Nov 2002
Flt Arr LOS 0256/0303z
bowser 1 at acft 0305z
boswer 2 at acft 0400z
bowser 3 at acft 0500z
fuelling complted 0540z
off load completed 0415z
Doors closed 0550 :2h47 not bad
Call for start- no can do we are closed
0815z adz that start will be at 0850z
0854z taxi out - 0910 airborne.

Touch down to take-off 6h14. Normal plnng time 01h30.
Now the question is - How much better can it get?

[stanley]

I will let you know if any thing changes as inbound 12 nov

[CR2]

Situation normal by the looks of it. :D :D

[gema]

For those who use National to fuel at Lagos. The Hydrant truck is still broken as of 0500z this morning SAT 16 Nov. The 36K bowser has a broken fuel hose. They are using the 18K and refilling back at the farm. We had a 3hr dly tdy 16NOV. Going back tonite and will update after 0100z 17Nov.

Anybody divert from Lagos on Thu 14 Nov during that major TS between 1100-1300z. After 4 attempts, diverted to Lome.

Lome has been a good experince for us. Anybody care to comment on Lome versus Accra on the handling of your flights fuel/underwing/loading at these two fields.

[neil armstrong]

Have been to Lagos once and hope never to go again!!
Hopefully my company thinks the same way:cool:

Neil

[AMEX]

Used to stop at LOS for a drop off/pick up and fuel up in LOME.
Now we were lucky because AF handled us and usually all went to perfection. Once or twice our company in their greatest wisdom, decided to go self handling (i.e pilots have the cash and try to sort out fees/fuel/FPL etc...). :D :D :D
Now don't ask me why the company decided to try that because a simple turn around in LOS became a simple nightmare.

Anyway, not talking about a 707 but about a 1900 so no doubt a very different matter but Lome has always been a welcoming place where it was easy to do all the admin ($$$;)) and get fuelled up.
Friendly people with a very professional Wx brief (nice and pretty file) and because of its size, a place where it is possible to find whoever you need to talk to.

Apart from the food available (plenty of us got food poisining), it certainly gets my vote.

[4HolerPoler]

Incredibly well timed Gema; the latest:

Blast hits Lagos airport


An explosion believed to have been caused by a chemical spill has created a huge fire at the cargo terminal of Lagos airport in Nigeria. Police said no-one was killed in the blast, but a number of people were seriously injured. Hundreds fled from the scene of the blaze, which sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky.

BBC correspondent Sola Odunfa reports that the fire was still burning three hours after the explosion in a cargo warehouse at about 1530 local time (1430 GMT) on Thursday. A customs official interviewed by French news agency AFP said the blast appeared to have been caused by a falling container of chemicals. It fell off a fork-lift truck and set fire to other goods in the warehouse, Patrick Akpoyipo said.

The airport serves the country's commercial capital, and the terminal would have been crowded with agents and clients at the time. Another customs agent, Ishau Afolabi, said he had seen five people with serious injuries at the scene.

The Associated Press reports that firefighters were initially battling the flames with a single fire engine hose. "The fire brigade is trying to put out the fire but no-one can get close," a witness told Reuters news agency.

Lagos, a city of 13 million, has a recent history of bloody disasters:


A factory blaze in the city in September caused at least 37 deaths.

Ethnic clashes in the city left 100 people dead in February.

In January more than 1,000 people were killed as a result of a fire at an arms depot.

[gema]

Weekly update.
Yes the SACOL warehouse looks a mess. Have had a man in LOS these past three days. Seems that 2 forklifts colided whilst moving batteries and other flamable cargo with a big fire as result. All those love textiles. Am appraised that the charred heap is 2x2x30 metres. We have some pics and will post once scanned in.

Okay so now Airport Management agree and have started painting lines at the FR* apron. (One small step....). The electric man agrees that the lights could actually be fixed and that they should then work(Before candle power Africa actually had electricity... Check out the Pax terminal).

The overturned FMC is being removed as of this post.

The Acft scrap metal(B727,B707 etc dealers will be evicted to another part of the airport. We did reccomend that the areas between,at the ends or of the RWYS are not good ideas.

They will in due course..B4 THE MAN comes 2C them again. Paint some parking bay numbers on the FR8 apron.
Fellow FR8RATS B warned you will yet be allocated a bay no at the FR8 apron in Lagos.

THE MAN has shown the Coms Department how to ensure that the WXS 4CSTS frm the WXSMAN for Los and other airports are transmitted via SITA. Am working on getting it to Bracknell for distribution on SADIS and also into the SITA SWANS system. Will take a bit of time (One small step...) They are actually sending it direct to me.I have had to brush up on my WXS QCodes.

Will keep U all updated when the MAN arrives back on Mon. Any contributions into helping fix LOS and Africa including south of the Limpopo are welcome.

Now shall I start a tread on FIH/Kinshasha.... No am going to leave that 4 braver RATS than me. There is something about being bitten 3 times that..... we will leave it at that.

In Afrikaans GEE MA means...... Nou ja toe.

[stanley]

the apron was full on the 3rd dec. 2,ATRs,2 Caravans,1 A300, Ex cally L1011,Lock Fyne.DC8,and the usual 3Bo707s and the 727 pluse An12.the hydrant was u/s and the bowser ran out of fuel."its Africa"

[palmtree]

anyone know the latest on LOS - is it as it was?

[GlueBall]

City of the dead, the near dead, and the deader than dead. :(

[DPWN]

If anyone knows of those responsible for sorting out the training for ground handling staff in Lagos please let me know. I am happy to go over there and offer my training services and perhaps bang some heads together. :mad:

This way we can work together, and may be?, sort out the shambles down in LOS. :)