NIGERIA: ACCUSATIONS OF GROUND CREW MALFEASANCE AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000472

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO FAA AHARRIS,
TRANSPORTATION TO FAA
STATE PASS TO OPIC
DAKAR PASS TO FAA REP MOIRA KEANE
ROME PASS TO TSA REP JOHN HALINSKI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2018
TAGS: EAIR EINV PREL NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ACCUSATIONS OF GROUND CREW MALFEASANCE AT
LAGOS AIRPORT

Classified By: Consul General Donna M. Blair for reasons 1.4 (B & D).


1. (C) Summary. On November 17, Robert Bryan and Michael
McTighe (strictly protect),executives with Delta and Arik
Air respectively, said ground crews fueling aircraft at
Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport have attempted
to short change them on fuel, loading less fuel onto
airplanes than requested and charging the airline for the
full fuel load. Arik Air's executive said his company has
videotaped ground crew attempting to load unauthorized
pallets of baggage onto a domestic flight, and both
executives expressed their concern about plans to bus
connecting passengers between international and domestic
terminals. Fuel prices remain high while fuel quality and
availability are erratic. While we know of no specific
safety incidents in Nigeria resulting from these practices,
short changing aircraft on fuel and unplanned additional
cargo raise a variety of safety and security concerns on top
of the transparency and corruption issues. End Summary.

Ground Crews Attempt To Under-Fuel Aircraft
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2. (C) During an informal discussion with Econoff in Abuja on
November 17, Robert Bryan, West Africa Manager for Delta
Airlines, and Michael McTighe, Managing Director for Arik Air
both complained about corruption in fueling operations at
Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA). Both
executives said their pilots have caught discrepancies
between the amount of fuel actually loaded onto the aircraft
and the fuel load the fuel truck tanker driver claimed to
have loaded onto the aircraft. Ground crew fueling aircraft
routinely tamper with gauges on their trucks to attempt to
short change aircrews on fuel while collecting the money for
the amount that should have been loaded onto the aircraft.
Bryan and McTighe claimed two Nigerian airlines, Sosolito and
Chanchangi purchase their fuel for cash, implying the
Nigerian airlines buy stolen fuel at a discount from the
ground crews. The executives said their aircrews keep a
careful eye out for any discrepancy in fuel loading.


3. (C) Bryan noted that local fuel providers refuse to adhere
to pricing in international fuel contracts that Delta has
with aviation fuel distributors worldwide. Both men say they
have confronted executives of local fuel distributors with
the charges of corruption and failure to adhere to contracts,
but their complaints have been ignored. Bryan and McTighe
noted that aviation fuel prices have not fallen in Nigeria
from their summer record highs despite the decline in crude
oil prices. The quality and availability of aviation fuel
remains erratic they said. Additionally, a runway closure at
MMIA has dramatically increased taxi times for aircraft
departing from MMIA's domestic terminal. McTighe said his
aircraft, fuel efficient new generation Boeing 737s and
Bombardier CRJs, burn an additional 150 to 300 kilos of fuel
per flight just taxiing from the domestic terminal to the
runway.

Planned Airport Bus Connection Called Unsafe
--------------


4. (C) Both executives derided as unsafe plans by airport
authorities to move passengers between the international and
domestic terminals using buses traveling on active taxiways.
McTighe said Arik Air refused to participate in a similar
plan to bus boarding passengers from the new MMIA domestic
terminal to its aircraft parked at a nearby ramp, saying that
the buses lacked two way radio communications with the
control tower and also that the drivers were not properly
trained.

Baggage Handlers Try To Load Unauthorized Cargo
-------------- --


5. (C) McTighe related that his company caught two baggage
handlers attempting to load additional pallets of baggage
onto a domestic flight departing MMIA for an unnamed city in
Nigeria. According to McTighe, security cameras filmed the
baggage handlers surreptitiously pulling two luggage carts up
to the aircraft; other baggage handlers and ground crew were

LAGOS 00000472 002 OF 002


otherwise occupied with a passenger loading procedure in
which passengers identify their checked bags and turn over
oversized carry-on bags for check-in and did not notice the
two errant ground crewmen. The two baggage handlers were
stopped before they could load the unauthorized baggage onto
the aircraft and they told authorities a Nigerian businessman
had bribed them to ship the bags to his destination. The
baggage was reportedly nothing more than personal goods and
consumer items the businessman had bought in Lagos. McTighe
noted that with dozens of flights per day, he worried about
the incidents they don't catch, particularly at smaller
airports in Nigeria.


6. (C) Comment: Beyond the obvious security concerns these
incidents raise, improper fuel and cargo loads are a serious
flight safety issue. The weight and positioning of fuel and
cargo are critical safety of flight parameters. Although we
are unaware of any accidents caused by improper aircraft
loading in Nigeria, it has been the cause aviation accidents
elsewhere. Delta and Arik aircraft are crewed by
well-trained and experienced pilots who know to check and
recheck fuel and baggage loads, especially in Lagos. What
happens on Nigeria's other, smaller airlines is another
matter. End Comment.


7. (U) This cable cleared with Embassy Abuja.
BLAIR