Aviation Safety: Cows Inimical To Airport Runways

Recently the invasion of cows at the runway of the Akure Airport made headline news in most of the daily papers. The incident prevented an Air Aircraft from landing when it was supposed to but had to hover in the air until airport authorities succeeded in taking control of the situation before the3 aircraft can land.

We should recall that this was not the first time cows have taken over a runway thus posing a security risk to aircraft and passengers. A few years ago, cows had invaded the runway of the Port Harcourt Airport and had significantly impacted on an Air France flight at the runway. Though no life was lost, the aircraft was severely damaged.

The Air Arance Airbus A330passenger liner was arriving overnight from Paris with about 200 passengers on board drove into a herd of cows that strayed on to the tarmac at the tarmac at the airport. After the incident the runway was shut to traffic

Also a hilarious video is trending online about cow’s invasion of the Benin Airport Runway. In the video c lip we hear the voice of somebody shouting about the cows while we some individuals trying to head the cows off the runway.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN whose duty it was to ensure the scuritiy of the airport always apologizes when such incidents occur. It was for such reasons and the preeminence given to cows in the country over the lives of human beings that some people have termed the country as a zoo.

Suffice this to say that a serving minister has called for the relocation of the airport to create a permanent pathway for cows to grease. Is that the solution to the problem at hand?

Though Akure Airport is termed one of the unviable airports in the country, but it still serves to bring development to the people of Ondo state and its environs. And when such things happen those in authority should begin to seek for lasting solutions to the problems instead of making suggestions that would be difficult to implement.

So some aviation analysts are calling on the government to implement perimeter fences especially at such airports that cows could easily get access to the runways.

FAAN on its part should start seeking workable solutions to the problems issues press statements apologizing to the airline and passengers will not in any way prevent a reoccurrence of the incident . Already airports land is being encroached on all over the country because the airports are porous, while that is of a lesser evil, cows taken over the runways  is very dangerous and we need to guard against that in order to protect the lives of the travelling public and the aircraft which are very expensive to acquire.

Industry analysts have also urged the Ondo state government to work together with FAAN to ensure that perimeter fence is put in place to safe guard the airport against cow invasion.

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