Aviation
Miss Malaysia plane: Authorities open search to Private Contractors
SYDNEY — Authorities will open up the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to private contractors next week, with the launch of a public tender that could take two months to complete, a person familiar with the search said.
Malaysian, Chinese and Australian authorities are seeking a single contractor to coordinate an expanded undersea search of a remote patch of the Indian Ocean covering 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles). The successful bidder will be responsible for bringing together ships, crew and technology to look for the missing jetliner, the person said.
The tender documents will outline basic information, including the area to be explored, the money available and the expected time frame for the search. However, private contractors will be free to devise their own strategies to find the plane for the money made available, the person said.
Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in April that the expanded underwater search would cost around 60 million Australian dollars (US$55 million). However, the person said this estimate includes the cost of mapping the sea floor, meaning the budget available to a private contractor to carry out the subsea search would be significantly less.
Separately, authorities are close to signing up a privately-owned deep sea survey vessel to help produce bathymetric maps of the ocean floor approximately 1,000 miles northwest of the Western Australia capital Perth where they believe the plane crashed. This new ship would work with the Chinese survey vessel Zhu Kezhen, which has already begun mapping the area.
The survey is likely to take 2-3 months to complete, the person said. Its results will enable towed sonar equipment to be deployed without the risk of it banging into undersea ridges and mountains.
The Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield is due to give up the search on Wednesday, having scoured a narrow area close to where it detected electronic signals on four occasions in early April. Authorities believed those transmissions were consistent with locator beacons on an aircraft’s black box flight recorders, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the hunt for Flight 370, which went missing en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 with 239 people on board.
Commander James Lybrand, who captained the Ocean Shield through April, this month told The Wall Street Journal that the Bluefin-21 submersible drone used in the search so far had faced difficulty navigating crevasses up to 70 meter deep and depths that had plunged to more than 5,000 meters.
The introduction of a private contractor aims to overcome these obstacles with new equipment. Companies in the marine salvage and oil and gas sectors could take part in the search, along with nonprofit research organizations.
Seattle-based salvage group Williamson & Associates, which together with professional wreck hunter David Mearns, helped discover the sunken destroyer HMAS Sydney in 2008—a breakthrough met with jubilation in Australia where the ship and its 645 passengers were missing for 67 years. Art Wright, the company’s operations manager, said private contractors would likely want to reanalyze the ping signals picked up by searchers in early April to double check that they coincided with black box locator beacons.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Phoenix International Holdings Inc. are potential candidates after helping on the deep sea recovery of the black boxes and debris from Air France Flight 447 which crashed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Other groups in the running to be involved in the search could include Oceaneering International Inc., Dutch company Fugro NV, University of Southampton in the U.K, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California and the University of Hawaii, people familiar with the matter said.
Already searchers suspect that two ping transmissions detected by the Ocean Shield on April 8 might not be man-made, while some other signals picked up by sonar buoys and by U.K. naval vessel HMS Echo have since been shown to come from surface craft.
A search using a submersible sonar device towed behind a boat would likely cost between US$70,000-US$80,000 a day for each ship used, including crew, equipment, fuel and vessel charter fees, according to Mr. Wright.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced stringent measures against pilots and crew members who work for multiple airlines concurrently, a practice it describes as a serious safety violation.
In a letter dated November 6, 2024, Acting Director-General, Chris Nojomo warned that pilots operating for more than one airline without specific safety protocols pose significant risks to Nigeria’s aviation sector.
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The directive, titled “Prohibition of Ad-Hoc Flight Operators for Multiple Airlines,” noted that NCAA surveillance reports revealed multiple cases of unauthorized cross-airline work by flight crews, which the agency now plans to address.
According to the NCAA, simulator and proficiency checks endorsed on a pilot’s license are valid only for the specific airline and training program under which they were issued.
The letter stated, “With effect from the date of issuance of this directive, all operators and holders of pilot licenses are informed that this action will be treated as a violation of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations.”
The NCAA’s new policy, effective November 11, 2024, warns that violators will face strict enforcement actions. Moving forward, simulator renewals will also be filed directly with individual operators, further tightening the agency’s oversight.
In a bold step to strengthen Akwa Ibom’s position in Nigeria’s aviation industry, Governor Umo Eno announced the addition of two new Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft to the fleet of the state-owned airline, Ibom Air, on Friday.
The two aircraft, registered as 5N-CED and 5N-CEE, mark a milestone in the state’s commitment to strategic investment, with the governor stressing that the acquisitions were fully funded by state resources without loans from financial institutions.
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At a welcoming ceremony attended by local officials and residents, Governor Eno emphasized his administration’s mission to drive revenue-generating ventures for Akwa Ibom rather than relying on debt.
He called the move a step toward breaking the cycle of government investments that only serve to pay off loans, vowing that the state’s funds would go towards projects that bring returns to the people.
The governor challenged Ibom Air to turn a profit by 2025, stating that the airline’s management should ensure routes in and out of Uyo remain dependable to prioritize the needs of Akwa Ibom travelers.
“As long as I remain governor, we will continue to use state funds for the benefit of all, not for private gain,” he said, noting that his administration aims to ensure that public investments deliver real value to the state.
Governor Eno also provided updates on several ambitious state projects, including an 18-story commercial complex underway in Lagos and an upcoming 4-star hotel in Abuja, both designed to generate revenue for Akwa Ibom.
Plans for an international market in Ikot Ekpene and the phased opening of a new terminal at the Victor Attah International Airport were also announced, with the airport terminal set for partial operation by December and full activation in early 2025.
Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Udeme Otong, commended Eno’s financial management, highlighting that the administration has avoided seeking loans over the past 18 months despite launching significant development projects.
Ibom Air’s Chairman, Pastor Imoabasi Jacob, expressed appreciation for the state’s investment in the airline, which has seen its fleet grow to nine aircraft.
Jacob credited the governor’s support with enabling Ibom Air to boost flight capacity, meeting demand on popular routes such as Uyo-Lagos-Abuja.
Captain Mfon Udom, CEO of Ibom Air, stated that the expanded fleet will improve efficiency and allow the airline to scale up its operations in time for the Christmas travel season.
Udom also noted that the airline anticipates the delivery of nine additional Airbus planes, which will further strengthen Ibom Air’s market presence.
Traditional leaders, including HRM Edidem Ita Edet Okokon III of Okobo Local Government Area, lauded the governor’s leadership, pledging continued support from the traditional institutions.
Anie Essienette, Group Manager for Marketing and Communications at Ibom Air, noted that demand for the airline’s services has surged nationwide, with the new CRJ900 aircraft helping meet this increasing need while the airline awaits further fleet expansion.
Nigeria’s Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo is of the view that there’s no cause for alarm over the approval of a private airstrip for a religious organisation, which attracted the attention of the House of Representatives.
He took to his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X, on Friday morning to shed light on the subject, and explained that it could be a great source of revenue for Federal Government.
Keyamo asserted that the issue was raised by an honourable member at plenary, out of ignorance, but was “unanimously referred to the Aviation Committee to look into.”
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Keyamo expressed confidence that by the time his Ministry was done enlightening them, “they will be satisfied”.
He added that “the privates air strip owners pay the Federal Government handsomely for these services.”
Keyamo wrote, “I think this is not correct. The House of Reps. as a body did not call on the Minister to revoke the license of any private airstrip.
“I think what happened is that someone moved a motion in that regard and it was unanimously referred to the Aviation Committee to look into it.
“Whilst the intention of the Hon. Member who moved it is very patriotic, it was based on a complete lack of knowledge of the aviation sector.
“By the time we explain to them how private air strips work and the processes they undergo by our agencies before the final approval, they will be satisfied.
“The responsibility of the owners of private air strips is just to build the runway and terminal building. But after they build the control tower in particular, it is completely handed over to the Federal Government through NAMA (Nigerian Airspace Management Agency) which is in complete control of the entire airspace in Nigeria. An MOU is usually signed with NAMA in this regard before the airstrip is approved for operations.
“It is NAMA that provides the Air Traffic Controllers and Engineers in ALL AIRPORTS and AIRSTRIPS IN NIGERIA. And the privates air strip owners pay the Federal Government handsomely for these services.
“No object flies into Nigeria without the prior clearance by NAMA and without filing a clear flight plan, eg, where it is taking off from and where it intends to land.
“And I have recently directed that all aircraft coming into the country MUST first land at our international airports where they would be properly processed and checked before they make their local flights into whatever airport or airstrip they intend to go. So, it is COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY impossible for any private airstrip owner to just jump on an aircraft and fly in and out of the country through that facility. The Federal Government does not permit that. You will not be cleared for take off or landing without prior request and authorisation.
“I thank the Member for his patriotism, but I wish he contacted us first to explain to him before rushing to move such a motion.
“I attach herewith for public consumption the NAMA Act that gives exclusive control of the Nigerian airspace to the Federal Government through NAMA.”
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