Air
Peace Airline has urged the aviation authorities to look into the ground
handling equipment that collided and damaged its aircraft elevator at the
Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
Spokesman
of Air Peace, Mr Stanley Olisa, who confirmed the incident in Lagos on
Wednesday, said the aircraft was scheduled to transport passengers to Owerri
from Lagos.
Olisa
explained that the aircraft was an Airbus A320 aircraft belonging to Air Peace
with the registration number: A320 ES-SAZ.
He
said that the incident had led to disruption of scheduled flight operations
after one of the ground handling company’s equipment rammed into one of its
aircraft.
Olisa
said before the incident occurred, the aircraft was scheduled to transport
passengers from Lagos to Owerri for a 7.00 a.m flight.
He
said: “This same aircraft was positioned for about 10 flights on the same day,
however, the incident changed all that causing a ripple that affected the
airlines schedule.
“This
is the third time in one month that the aircraft is grounded and we don’t know
when it will be up again.
“The
NAHCO staff had no reason to be where he was and he was not assigned to the
aircraft and how he rammed into our aircraft is still shocking.
“This
is going to cause revenue loss for us as an airline because the aircraft was
scheduled to operate several flights today (Wednesday), but could not do so.
“This
has caused flight disruptions and delays hence, the authorities should
investigate the incident and take necessary actions.”
Olisa
said the airline had made a formal complaint to NAHCO management on the
incident.
Reacting,
the Group Executive Director, Business and Corporate Services (GED), NAHCO, Dr
Sola Obabori, also confirmed the incident.
Obabori
said it was not possible for its staff to deliberately and maliciously damage
one of its major customer’s aircraft.
The
official said the handling company had filed a report on the incident, adding
that the company had commenced an engagement with the airline on the incident.
“We
have a very cordial relationship with the airline and we have been together all
these years, we serve them diligently and professionally.
“Our
staff are well-trained, accidents do happen. You will agree with me that
aircraft do crash due to human error.
“In
this particular case, the staff was driving on the runway to attend to another
flight that arrived before Air Peace.
“He
was driving towards that direction and wanted to support that operation, but he
committed an error in terms of processes he was supposed to follow, which he
didn’t follow.”
The
official said that was what caused the incident, adding that the staff might
had a blind spot, which prevented him from seeing well.
He,
however assured that the company would review what had happened so that such
incident would not reoccur.
