African Operations

Being gored by rhinos or mauled by lions used to be my wildest nightmares of Africa. Of course, being nine years old and awed by "Hatari" and Tarzan films might have had something to do with it.

Now that I am allegedly grown up, I see the place more clearly. Somehow the majesty and light of the dark continent still seems to struggle with hazards—some real, some imagined. Still it seems the only change in that contest is a change of elements.

Last autumn, we had a lengthy trip planned from Europe to South Africa and back. One of my first resources was Ed Boyo, of Landover Aviation, in Lagos, Nigeria. Landover Aviation operates a network of handling agents at major airports in west and central Africa and has consistently provided my flights with excellent service. Ed is also an active member of NBAA and current regional lead for Africa and the Middle East. We have both worked hard to increase operator awareness of operational risks and countermeasures in Africa.

African ATC varies from near western standards in the north and south, to nearly uncontrolled in large portions continent’s center. Problems of politics, economics, war and simple equipment failure conspire to make this one of the current most dangerous areas in which to fly.

Certain countries have never had adequate resources to administer their airspace, while others have fallen into disrepair due to internal or external conflict, corruption or larger infrastructure issues—like the availability of electricity. If I paint a bleak picture consider that it is only a snapshot of the worst that the region can deliver on a regular basis.

For examples, you need only look to recent news events or speak with someone who operates in Africa on a regular basis.

Perhaps the worst example of how things can go bad was the recent collision between a Luftwaffe Tu-154 and a US Air Force C-141. Although, I have not seen a formal report, the general scenario seems to be that the Tupolev departed Adidjan, Ivory Coast, on a flight plan to Windhoek, Namibia. Ed tells me that the Luftwaffe dispatch likely filed the flight plan via computer, expecting the automated system to notify all FIRs. This would seem a reasonable premise in most parts of the world.

Unfortunately, Africa suffers a paucity of computers and even temporary communications interruptions can prevent the information being passed to some sectors. Such appears to be the case and a contributing factor in the accident. The US Air Force C141 was cleared to depart Windhoek, Namibia on a direct route, at FL350, exiting Namibian airspace at ILDIR intersection.

Apparently unknown to either the controller or the C141 crew, the Tupolev 154 was airborne and southbound towards ILDIR on a non-standard cruise level, FL350.

Circumstances suggest that at least one aircraft was not utilizing the IATA Inflight Broadcast procedure or adequately monitoring the frequency—although we can not conclude this from the available evidence. ILDIR intersection is several hundred miles offshore—approximately due west of the border between Namibia and the new Congo (formerly Zaire). The accident occurred near sunset and communications with any ATC unit in this area are difficult at best.

Ed Boyo’s experience and current knowledge of African operations lead him to oppose the conventional wisdom that this airspace is best first choice for implementation of free flight concepts. On the contrary, Ed believes there is demonstrable reason to revert, at least temporarily, to a strict system of one-way airways and adherence to hemispherical rules for cruising levels.

He also believes too much reliance may be laid upon TCAS, since neither military or whole plane cargo aircraft are required to be so equipped. Accordingly, the IATA procedure, as well as simple see and avoid techniques must be used by all aircraft to improve the odds.

How the IFBP Works

Essentially, the IFBP is a position report to all other aircraft, in VHF range, with the addition of airway and direction information. In case you don’t happen to remember all this when you are forty thousand feet above central Africa, don’t worry, it’s all there on the Jeppesen Africa High/Low Enroute chart 1 / 2 (see inset).

All of this creates extra work load and stress for the un-augmented flight crew and may be a good reason to place an extra pilot aboard, consider a crew change enroute or evaluate the advantages of retaining a pilot with recent experience in the region.

For our trip, operator flight and duty limits required a third crewmember. Both Edd Dilworth and Roy Dragoo were veterans with multiple African operations credited to each. With the entire crew cognizant and comfortable with both the region and procedures, the leg from Paris to Libreville, Gabon, was uneventful. Libreville is our current favorite stop. Landover’s agent, Yemi, can consistently accomplish a G4 turnaround in under a half an hour—something hard enough to brag about in many parts of the States.

For the second leg to Cape Town, South Africa, an offshore routing was selected. This route included ILDIR intersection. Within minutes, the difficulties and frustrations of this region manifest themselves abundantly. Libreville cleared our flight to exit their airspace at FL330 and to seek higher level from Brazzaville, or Luanda, the ATC units for the area.

During the next hour and a half we attempted contact with those sectors, with Libreville, with Kinshasa, with anyone at all to no avail. Nothing from HF to "guard frequencies" and relays, or Satcom was able to connect us to any sector—this despite the fact that we could clearly hear the appropriate controllers.

As they were apparently unaware of our presence we initiated a 30 meter altitude offset—as well as our customary fraction of a mile lateral offset– and kept our eyes and ears open. By using the IATA procedure and frequency, we were too well aware that we were not the only crew plagued by the situation. However, monitoring the IFBP frequency, we were able to assimilate a picture of traffic flow and establish which participating aircraft might cross our route and / or altitude.

It was not until we entered Namibian airspace, south of ILDIR, that we were able to contact a controller and obtain climb clearance. Even then, there was understandable concern over the validity and implied traffic separation.

We continued the our long haul rotation, moving the rested pilot into the right seat for an hour and a half, then to the left seat for the same time and then out for a rest of equal length. We have found the pattern keeps us more alert and focused than long periods of inactivity.

The balance of the flight was uneventful despite periodic breaks in communication until reaching South African airspace. Table Mountain and Cape Town were as welcome a sight as any I have ever seen. At that point, both primary traffic and radar services resumed the comforting standard that in its self can lull the unwary aviator into assuming the whole world is approaching the second millennium. As my Grandad used to say, "It ain’t necessarily so."

For the next ten days we explored the Cape Province, Pilansberg and Sun City, as well as Jo’berg and Durban. The latter two were merely multiple stops where I was fortunate to catch up with friends I had known in another life when we all lived in the Saudi Arabia of the oil boom days.

We found Cape Town to be a lovely city although we would recommend that crews stay either in "The Waterfront" or at one of the southern beachfront suburbs. Like most cities in the world, crime is higher in the centers while areas like the Waterfront provide greater personal security and sufficient dining and accommodation choices. Table Mountain offers wonderful hiking although Roy will confirm that one needs to be 1) in better shape than I was for a 3000 foot climb; and, 2) dressed in layers to allow for micro-climates ranging from sub-tropical to sub-arctic.

Sun City – Pilansberg was an excellent base from which to make our day trips to the rest of South Africa. Pilansberg is free of the crime that infests the larger cities anywhere in the world but is especially bad in South Africa at present. It also affords fine golf and camera safaris for the non-flying days.

Ivana and her team from Aerospace Handling worked thoroughly to provide a flawless trip—arranging to keep small airports open and large airport ramps accessible to our passengers. All missions, however daunting, were executed with an apparent ease and congeniality that we truly appreciated.

Finally it was time to leave South Africa for the leaden skies of a gathering European winter. Our departure would be from Johannesburg where the overland routing to Libreville, then Paris, involved fewer communications breaks but added the elements of subtropical thunderstorms and heavier traffic. Despite these impediments, the first leg was unremarkable.

During the approach to Libreville our attention was drawn to a large thunderstorm straddling all the northeasterly routes to Douala, Cameroon. There was no doubt that it would still be there following a fast refueling stop.

Yemi, again turned us around quickly enough to beat out a French Airbus 340, also bound for Paris. Perhaps our cruising level also came into the controller’s decision. In any case we were glad to be ahead of any traffic.

As expected, the thunderstorm was right in the way upon departure from Libreville and larger than we had last seen. The proximity of the FIR meant an early level off and frequency change to Douala. It was immediately obvious that risks had increased, the controller’s English was poor and occasionally diverged into non-standard ICAO phraseology. Additionally, he was controlling several aircraft in French.

After a number of years living and working in French speaking parts of the world, I am able to understand most of what is said; however, the workload is increased by translating that into a clear picture of the situation and communicating the image to the rest of the crew. All part of the fun when flying in many parts of the world—whether French, Spanish or anything else.

We were able to circumnavigate the weather and stake our claim on FL390. During this process we were aware that the Airbus 340 was also airborne and maintaining a position about ten minutes behind us, at FL350. I had not heard his flight report on the IFBP frequency—in French or English. Although this was mildly irritating, we elected to ignore him due to his non-threatening position well behind and below our flight. Also, now clear of the weather we could enjoy a stellar view of the African night as well as any traffic.

As we passed overhead of Douala, we passed a southbound South African 747, at FL370, whom we had heard consistently reporting on the IFBP frequency. We exchanged greetings in Afrikaans and displayed lights to one another as he passed below us—pulse lights always evoke comment in the hinterlands.

All the while, the A340 had been maintaining FL 350 and repeating his request for FL390 with some urgency. These transactions, as with all previous exchanges, were only in French and with no reports on the IFBP frequency.

Only a few minutes later, we heard a very surprised and angry report from the South African crew demanding to know why the controller had just cleared an aircraft through his level within a few miles! The event precipitated a TCAS RA, a good deal of adrenaline and even more questions.

The controller seemed unaware that he had facilitated this near disaster and attempted to deny that there had been any problem. The Airbus remained conspicuously silent in the exchanges although from that moment onwards the crew began making reports on the IFBP frequency until we all reached the Mediterranean Sea.

For a long while, Edd, Roy and I sat in stunned comprehension of what we had nearly witnessed. Each of us knows and consistently uses the IFBP frequency since we understand it may be your last chance to catch error—the controller’s, another crew’s or perhaps our own.

The greatest countermeasure to casualty are an alert crew, knowledge and a dose of skepticism. If you are going to operate in Africa, arm yourself with the knowledge by speaking with others who have operated there or perhaps take someone along to whom the region is less alien. Then you may even find you have an enjoyable journey.

Roger Rose works for International Pilot Services, Inc., a provider of contract pilots experienced in international operations and a number of high end bizjets from Falcon 900 through the Gulfstream V. The IPS website carries notices of trouble spots reported by their pilots and others—www.intl-pilot.com