Man on aircraft wing: Experts analyse consequences

Experts in aeronautics have said that the recent act by a man who climbed an aircraft while it was about to take-off at Lagos airport could cause flight imbalance and crash.
The engineers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews on Tuesday in Abuja said airplane already had an automated system which if disrupted could be fatal.
It would be recalled that a man identified as Usman Adamu from the Republic of Niger on July 19, jumped on an Azman airline flight scheduled to fly to Port-Harcourt from Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
Although the man was discovered and apprehended before the flight later took-off, the engineers condemned the act, saying that it was a “serious security threat’’.
Speaking on what could had happened, Dr Sadiq Umar, National Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Space Engineers (NISE) said “the flight can lose balance while taxing and skid the runway or even unable to take off.
Umar said the action also constituted security breach and should be thoroughly investigated.
For the intruder, Umar said the action was suicidal because he would not have survived if the aircraft had attempted take-off.
“Whoever did that was ready to die because you can’t survive in the air without protection.
“The aeroplane can swing, he will fall and death is inevitable, while putting hundreds of lives at risk. The man may be mentally deranged.
Umar said awareness is crucial to securing the airports, adding that the country needed to stand firm and work with the international standard of aviation.
Prof Onuegbu Ugwu, Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Federal University Ebonyi state said any action that disrupts navigation had serious safety implications.
“The aeroplane has an automated system and once you tamper with the system,it degenerates to other problems.
“The nature of flight has made it that members of crew are always in direct control to ensure no other person operates it,” Ugwu said.