Pilots and Airline Operators should take weather information seriously- DG NiMet ….. Urges passengers to exercise patience during flight delays
Oru Leonard
The Director General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Professor Mansur Bako Matazu, in a media briefing at Abuja yesterday advised Pilots and airline Operatos to take weather information from relevant agencies seriously and be ready to manage severe turbulence as the rainy season commences in many locations across the country.
Matazu, while briefing the press on Friday in Abuja, explained that microburst are mini-thunderstorms that emanate from the cloud because of its low temperature of the cloud.
“You can also experience clear air turbulence and it happens during the onset period of the rainy season,” Matazu said.
He explained that the negative implications of these weather issues include the fact that they cause severe turbulence during descent or at certain flying levels.
“These microburst which happen around the airports cause windshields problems and that is why we have an alert system by which we issue alerts to pilots through the Air Traffic Controllers,” he said.
He observed that his agency had issued special alerts to airlines and other operators across all airports in Nigeria and would continue to issue same as the rainy season sets in fully.
He revealed that NiMet had been issuing weather updates to Air Traffic Controllers at intervals of 30 minutes daily and that the updates were relayed to pilots, adding: “We want pilots to be conscious of precautionary measures and adhere to standard operating procedures to ensure safety in aviation.
