Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510

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Death in a multi-purpose airport

By Rehab Saad

How is it possible for a child to be on the runway of an airport, even a small and condemned-to-neglect airport such as that of Imbaba? Isn't this the shortest imaginable cut to tragedy?

Residents of Imbaba are awaiting the answer to the question of how 12-year-old Mohamed Abdel-Rahman came to be playing football with his friends within the perimeter fence of Imbaba airport last week.

The boys appear to have kicked the ball onto the runway. Tragically, Abdel-Rahman ran to get it just as a small training aircraft, a Beach Baron 58, came in to land. The pilot, who was flying in from Assiut, had no time to brake. Abdel-Rahman was hit by the wing. He died later in hospital.

It is hard to imagine a situation in which children can make their way into the restricted area of an airport and play on, or near, the runway. However, for the residents of Imbaba, an under-privileged district in the Giza governorate, this is not an unusual occurrence. Local children regard the airport as an inviting open space, and hence a playground. Entry is an easy matter: they merely climb over or squeeze through the dilapidated fence which surrounds the airport.

An airport source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly that no unauthorised person was allowed inside the airport grounds, and that airport authorities have filed several complaints with police over infringement of the rules by members of the public. In spite of the complaints, children, the most vulnerable section of the community, have continued to avoid reprimand and have carried on with their games. Meanwhile adults used the airport as a daily short cut.

The airport is situated in the middle of a densely-populated area that includes residential buildings, shops and schools. Tall buildings, only a few metres away, encroach on the airport's perimeter.

There is little to keep the public out. A reporter from the Weekly visiting the site after the tragedy witnessed the collapse of part of the perimeter wall. Falling masonry hit a passing mother and child, injuring both.

Residents hold airport officials responsible for the accidents. "The chaotic conditions at the airport are to blame," Ibrahim Khalid, a resident, told the Weekly. "The fence is full of holes and anybody can go through them, and there are no police guards to stop them. The airport has become a playground for children and the authorities are not discharging their duty, either by securing the wall or posting guards."

However, Maj-Gen Mamdouh El-Bagouri of the Civil Aviation Authority blames the residents. "We have restored the fence hundreds of times and it is always broken by children and other residents. Children want to play football, and some residents use part of the airport for raising poultry. Guards are beaten by residents wishing to go through the airport."

Asked why guards did not prevent the boy who died from playing on the runway, El-Bagouri replied: "How can you stop all these boys? Why didn't he see the aircraft landing and stop? If you are crossing railway tracks and you see a train coming, you should stop. The train will not stop."

According to press reports, the Civil Aviation Authority has decided to shut down the airport for two months, during which time the fence will be secured. Other reports suggest an iron fence will replace the current one. So far, however, nothing has been done, and the old fence remains in situ, surrounded by rubble and garbage.

"The airport has become unsuitable for aviation or even training," El-Bagouri concedes. "It is now surrounded by tall buildings and this is a danger for both aviation and for the buildings themselves."

He said an alternative airport had been built near Six October City, but private companies and investors refused to use it on the grounds that it was too far away. However, the real reason for their reluctance, he added, was that they were allocated special hangars at Imbaba which were surrounded by large plots of land and which they could cultivate without paying a fee to the government.

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