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The following is an unauthorized version of the Report of the Panel of Experts to the United Nations on Sierra Leone.
This is not the official report. The official report has not yet been released. The report posted here is subject to change by the sanctions committee.
III. THE ROBERTS FIR
A. General
295. The Roberts FIR is a dismemberment of the Dakar FIR. It was established in January 1975 by Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which decided to manage their airspace jointly. The FIR was named after Roberts International Airport (also known as Robertsfield), which hosted the headquarters at its creation. The headquarters was transferred to Freetown in June 1990 because of the war in Liberia. It has been based in Conakry since June 1997 as a result of the war in Sierra Leone. The Panel also noted that whether in Robertsfield, Freetown or Conakry, the buildings, which have hosted the headquarters and its technical services, are not architectural models. In Conakry, for example, the building where the FIR administration is located is old, tiny and inaccessible. The Flight Information Centre (FIC) is not much better. It is located in a very narrow single room, and the control equipment is old. Everything in the centre dates from an earlier epoch. The controllers complain about unsuitable working conditions.
Air Traffic Management
296. The Roberts FIR TMA extends 40NM north of Conakry and 99NM south of Monrovia. It therefore encompasses the three airports, and VHF coverage is also provided. The most frequently flown airway is UB 600, which extends from Dakar to Abidjan. Domestic traffic in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is very low.
297. The Roberts Flight Information Centre is responsible for all overflights and takes charge of flights above 3,000 feet, after takeoff. Upon landing, it transfers traffic to the local control tower when the descending aircraft has reached about 4,000 feet.
298. The air traffic service authorities are aware of the existence of illegal transboundary traffic. They are informed by other pilots who fly in their airspace on the one hand, and by the supervisory authorities of the three countries, on the other.
Communications
299. The Roberts FIC operates a VHF which covers the entire TMA. It uses the HF for links with Freetown and Monrovia.
300. The ATS/DS system is operational with Dakar and Abidjan. An iridium satellite telephone is used with Bamako.
301. Only the Conakry VSAT is operational. Freetown VSAT is out of order. The AFS is not operational in the Roberts FIR.
Navigation
302. Navigational aids (ILS, VOR/DME, NDB) are available at the three airports, except at Roberts (Monrovia) where the VOR has been out of order for a very long time.
Surveillance
303. There is no radar in the Roberts FIR. However, the Panel noted that in the Air Navigation Plan for the African/Indian Ocean Region, the Roberts FIR included the installation of a radar.
B. Guinea
304. In Conakry, the Panel was informed of the following incident: on 10 November 2000, the crew of an Antonov 12, registered in Ukraine and chartered over a period of time by a Guinean airline, was carrying out maintenance work on the aircraft which had been grounded because of a contract dispute. The crew requested permission from the control tower to taxi, in order to test the engines. The authorization was granted. Soon thereafter, the aircraft took off and disappeared into the Guinean sky without a flight plan, without authorization and without answering numerous calls from the tower. It was only few hours later that the aircraft was reported to be on the ground at Freetown. This is a concrete example of what can happen at airports in the Region.
305. Guinean civil aviation authorities observe that their country is going through a difficult period, and they have taken measures to revise overflight and landing agreements. They have noted an increase in the number of requests for overflight and landing authorizations whose justification leaves much to be desired. While key staff in the Air Traffic Management field have been in the Roberts FIR since its creation, they badly need training in the field of CNS/ATM.
306. Many domestic airports in Guinea are closed to public air traffic due to a lack of passengers or aircraft. Most of the equipment at domestic airports is very old. Where surveillance is concerned, civil aviation authorities note the concern of the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Defence, and they mention letters from these Ministries informing them of cases of unauthorized overflight. (A copy of one of these letters is attached to this report as Annex 4).
307. The DCA is aware of the presence of small aircraft and helicopters operating near national borders. It also recognizes the existence of several landing strips, either authorized or not. Some are used by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and World Food Programme.
308. The Panel was authorized to visit a domestic airport, namely the Nzerekore Airport, near the borders with Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia. An NDB is available. The airport is not fenced. The only communications means available at this airport is the common frequency with the other airports, including Freetown and Monrovia.
C. Sierra Leone
309. During discussions with the Panel, the civil aviation authorities of Sierra Leone stressed that military flights in general and Nigerian military flights in particular do not follow air traffic instructions. They do whatever they want in Sierra Leonean airspace. The authorities deplore the absence of radar, which would enable them to know what these military flights actually do on the one hand, and on the other, to detect illegal overflights. They also lack the means to detect weapons and dangerous objects at the airport. Lack of training is also mentioned as a problem.
310. The authorities expressed concern about airports being open to public air traffic without technical personnel, and of them being used for unauthorized private flights. Where Freetown is concerned, they have made arrangements to act in case of unauthorized landing, for example, by requesting fire-fighting trucks to block the runway and informing the appropriate authorities. They gave the Panel a memorandum, copy of which is attached to this report (as Annex 5). The Panel noted a large number of aircraft and helicopters in the public parking lot on the one hand, and the absence of airport security measures, as well as the absence of a fence, on the other. Virtually everything in the field of civil aviation needs to be done or redone in Sierra Leone.
D. Liberia
311. The Panel met with President Charles Taylor and found him to be aware of the shortcomings and deficiencies faced by Roberts International Airport, which only a few years ago, was a very dynamic air traffic control centre. He was concerned by the lack of resources to control his airspace and he said that he had personably approached the United Nations for assistance in acquiring the equipment necessary for effective management of the airport. His request, he said, had yielded no result. Asked about the priority he would give between the acquisition of military equipment and the acquisition of means to improve his airport, he chose the airport.
312. The day before this discussion, the Panel visited Roberts International Airport, which is gradually resuming activity. The airport has many burned out and tumbledown buildings, a consequence of the war. As in Conakry and Freetown, the activities of the control tower are limited to takeoffs and landings. However unlike Conakry and Freetown, there is no link between Robertsfield and the domestic airports of the hinterland, and there is no telephone.
313. The authorities say that they do not have the means to take inventories or to inspect domestic airports. As regards military flights, the air traffic services are not involved in their movements. A separate sector is allocated to them.