Our emergency response to MMIA Terminal 1 fire was very good-Capt. Mahmood

Captain Abdullahi Zubeir Mahmood is the Director of Airport Operations at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). In this interview with WOLE SHADARE, he speaks about the fire that gutted the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 1 last week and how the coordination by various groups in the aviation ecosystem helped to avert what would have amounted to a national tragedy and other issues concerning the inferno

The fire incident at MMIA last week caused significant damage, leading to flight diversions by some airlines, especially inbound aircraft. Some do not support diverting flights to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, or Abuja. To get an insight into what necessitated that decision?

Technically, as a pilot, whenever you are going to an airport, you are also planning for your alternates. Before you depart, you will receive your alternate airport information in case your destination airport has an issue, such as weather or an airport closure. Whatever it is, you need to plan for diversion. In aviation, diversion is a standard procedure. For those asking why we had to divert some aircraft, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) had already closed the airspace, and there were no air traffic controllers to clear them for landing. There is no airport where you can land without landing clearance. So British Airways diverted to Abuja, which is perfect. Why would they divert to Abuja? British Airways has an operational base in Abuja. Emirates diverted to Accra, which is also a base. If anything happens there, they have their staff in Accra. Lufthansa diverted to Malabo, which is better for them. If you have noticed Lufthansa operations, you will have noticed that when they come to Lagos, they drop passengers and continue to Malabo. After dropping passengers in Malabo, they pick Frankfurt passengers and take them to Lagos. After that, they pick up Frankfurt passengers from Lagos again and return them to Frankfurt. That diversion saved them one landing. Air Peace, which was coming back from Gatwick, also diverted to Abuja that same day. Again, diversion is standard, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that. You can have 100 runways in an airport, but once the airport is closed, you cannot use any of the runways because you cannot land without clearance. The NAMA people who were there did a fantastic job. In fact, when that fire broke out, four aircraft needed to be cleared to land, and they took it upon themselves to do so. They waited in that tower until the aircraft landed. After clearing those aircraft to land, they couldn’t get out. That was why we had to move them by crane. I think those people should be applauded because they are saviours.

 While many people have commended your quick response to the fire, others say you didn’t do enough. What were the strategies you used to avert what could have been a national tragedy?

Our emergency response was really good. Thanks to the collaboration of all the agencies. Every single emergency protocol was activated that day, and it worked. The police, the Lagos State government, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Air Force, and everyone were there. Immediately that thing happened, whoever we called was ready to help. Our firemen performed wonderfully. Normally, once you have an issue, you just activate the Emergency Operations Centre, EOC. Everyone concerned, including the airport manager, who is the EOC chairman, was in the EOC. We met to coordinate, collect all reports, and make decisions.

How do you respond to those who claim the fire could not be extinguished quickly because FAAN did not ensure the terminal had sprinklers?

Surprisingly, one reason that the terminal was going to be renovated was the building’s comatose state and some of the equipment there, including the plumbing and electrical systems. Yes, we expected that some of the sprinklers also would not work. But to surprise you, some of the sprinklers that have been there for 50 years were the sprinklers that saved us on the day of the incident. When the fire broke out, the fire truck sprayed water, but unfortunately, some areas were not reached. The team of firemen, comprising NEMA, the federal fire service, the state fire service, and FAAN firemen, entered the building. Once they entered the building, the only way to fight the fire was to use the sprinklers. When they pulled those sprinklers, they were functional, and that saved us.

 Do you think that the fire could have been better contained if the terminal had not old and required?

Fire is not something you anticipate, or you say, “This is the damage this fire is going to cause. We have seen fire outbreaks around the world. For example, the Heathrow airport fire shut down the airport and affected about 1300 flights. In situations like this, we need preventive measures to determine how you will prevent it from happening. But when it happens, it’s left for you to start fighting it. If you are lucky enough to fight it, that is fine. But if you are not lucky, there is nothing we can do.

Although the minister has dismissed reports that the fire outbreak could be sabotage, what can you say about this?

We have been seeing a lot of these conspiracy theories. However, as the minister and MD have said, it is nothing. If we start engaging in conspiracy theories, we distract ourselves from what we are supposed to do. Fire has happened. An investigation is underway and will continue until we determine the root cause of what happened. At this moment, there is a lot of speculation. The real professionals who understand this thing are out there doing their job. I think at this point we should give them the chance to do their job and provide us with the investigation report. Technically, whenever you see proper coordination, I strongly believe it comes from the leadership. When you have leadership that gives you the opportunity to do things without much interference, you will see coordination. That is what I have seen here. If you look at it, the president has given the minister a mandate without interfering with it. The minister has now escalated that mandate to the FAAN leadership, specifically the MD, who leads from the front. Even though you get tired, she never gets tired. Also, take a look at the minister who landed in Lagos at 12 midnight to show leadership. We were all at the airport till 1: 30 am. I don’t think anyone in Nigeria who needed to be called that day was not spoken to by her. Presidency, Ministers’ concern, and governors. The Lagos State governor was on a call with her multiple times. Lagos State deployed virtually all of its emergency response to the airport that day. We called the police, and within 30 minutes, they deployed their helicopter.

For those who were trapped, how were you able to bring them out of that place?

The tower had layers. They came out of the tower building, like inside their control tower. They came down and were standing on the balcony. There is a man named Friday Yahaya, their supervisor that day. I knew he was there, so I was calling him. We were just telling them to move away from the source of the smoke. They were standing, and they were really okay where they were standing. But now, the challenge was how to get them from that place to the upper deck. The firemen, the NEMA and our fire people now had to go in. Fortunately for them, the smoke did not penetrate the last staircase. The team went up the staircase, bringing them out to the upper deck.

Were they unconscious at that moment?

No, they were fine. I spoke with them by phone. The smoke did not reach them because they were on the balcony. However, they were just standing without masks. As I said, because there was no smoke in the staircase, it did not affect them. They brought them down, brought them to the upper deck. They now use the crane to move them in four batches because the bucket can only carry four people. To my surprise, the same guys came down, walked straight to the watch room, set up another tower, and started controlling the aircraft.

How were those in charge able to swiftly reopen the airspace for flights?

Technically, incidents like this affect the entire ecosystem. When I say the ecosystem is affected, I mean the whole network. You have international flights arriving, carrying passengers with connecting flights. Once a flight is delayed, how will those passengers make their connections? Will they have extended layovers? Will they be rebooked? What happens next? We are not only looking at Lagos airport. Beyond Lagos airport, domestic airlines were also affected. Passengers were left waiting, and some crew members were running out of duty time. Even when the airport reopens, it does not mean everyone can depart at the same time. Fortunately, everyone managed the situation, stabilised operations, and cleared the backlog as quickly as possible.

 Immediately after the fire, a video circulated showing the airport had been shared…

I don’t know whether an airport has turned into a cake where everyone takes their own share. I don’t even know how you can share an airport. I think people just like to come out and say things because they have data, and they can go online and talk without verifying or trying to understand. I think everywhere in the world, when a particular organisation or person is in a situation, everyone should rally around and work together to save the situation. This isn’t about pointing fingers. Pointing fingers will not save our situation. Aviation is global. Aviation is not localised. Whatever we do, the whole world is watching. What we do, the whole world is watching us, and they are seeing how we do things. Are we doing it right? We might make mistakes, which are normal, but we will overcome them.

Many airports worldwide have recorded fire incidents. How will you rate your response to this situation?

Well, two things: if I said I was going to rate myself, you know how I’d rate myself. But to be fair, you would likely give FAAN a higher rating, given our fast response time.  Yes, there are gaps. Can we do better? Yes, we can do better. But at this point, I can say we did very well. The response and reaction are part of the safety management system and demonstrate that we are on point throughout. We went to the temporary terminal and confirmed everything was in place. How were you able to do that in record time? President Bola Tinubu has approved the renovation of the terminal, and there is a deadline to complete it. When we brought on the consultant and the contractor, we shared the timeframe with them. Now, it’s up to the contractor to ensure we meet this timeline. You cannot meet this timeline without providing these alternative arrangements.

Could you provide an overview of what the airport will look like?

One thing I can tell you is that by the time that that works is completed, Nigeria will be proud of it. When this project started, the minister and MD said they didn’t want to repeat past mistakes. The first thing they did was to engage one of the world’s best consulting firms, Arup, which is providing the consultancy for Heathrow Terminal 5. They are very strict. I was in a meeting with them, and I heard the questions they asked the Chinese people, which were some things I had never fathomed. I am not an engineer; it’s not my field. The MD is not an engineer, the minister is not an engineer. Because of this, we need a professional to provide that comfort, and we chose Arup.

Is the 22-month timeframe still achievable?

They will do it less than that, trust me. From what they are doing, who would think that these people would have pulled down those bridges? The only thing slowing them down is that the concessionaires are still inside. They are more than ready.

Wole Shadare