The Mission
Control Center is located in the Headquarters of NEMA. Its
operation is based on the satellite technology called the
Cospas-Sarsat and manned by trained staff of the Agency.
The
Cospas-Sarsat is a satellite-based hi-tech system designed to
intercept distress alert and locational signals to assist in Search and Rescue Operations.
It uses
spacecraft and ground facilities to detect and locate the
signals of distress beacon operating on 121.5 and 406
Megahertz. When there is a distress alert from a beacon
located on a ship or aircraft, the satellite system transmits
the signals to the geo-stationary terminals on the earth from
where the data is processed and transmitted to the appropriate
Mission Control Center (MCC).
The MCC
alerts the nearest Rescue Coordinating Center (RCC) or
Disaster Response Unit (DRU) of the Army, Navy and the Air Force for appropriate and immediate
action. The installation and
operations of the COSPAS-SARSAT system by the Agency have been a
worthwhile investment as the NMCC records its first life saving
intervention even before its official commissioning.
Mission Control
Center (NEMA HQ)
The
intervention happened at about 6pm on Friday 12th September
2003.
A telephone call was received from the Abuja Control Tower that
an aircraft flying to Zaria en route Kaduna from Abuja had lost
communication with the Kaduna Control Towel. They wanted to know
if NEMA had received the distress alert on NEMA's system.
At 7.27 p.m a resolved distress alert was registered on NEMA's
system. The alert was located at 10 07.9N 007 46.5E which
translates to an area that lies between Sarki Pawa and Idon in
Kaduna State. The signal was first picked up by satellite S6.
The distress location and then information was immediately
passed to Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) at Abuja
Airport. At 10.30 pm on the same day, a feedback call was
received from Abuja Airport Control Tower that the aircraft and
the pilot have been found at the exact location NEMA gave them.
The pilot was reported to be alive and received treatment for
minor injuries. The aircraft was said to have had minor damage.
The pilot, a female trainee of the Nigeria College of Aviation, Zaria was alone in the aircraft. The COSPAS-SARSAT system also
provides distress alert and location information to Search and
Rescue (SAR), for aviation, maritime and land users in distress
world-wide using satellite systems to relay the transmissions of
distress radio-beacons operating on 121.5 MHz OR 406MHz. The
facility covers the whole of the West African sub-region.
The President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
commissioned the facility on the 13th of January, 2004 at the
Agency's Corporate Headquarters.
