Disaster was averted on Monday night at
the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos as passengers aboard Emirates flight
to Dubai escaped a ground crash after their aircraft collided with a
stationary plane belonging to Hak Air.
It was learnt that the Boeing 777-200R
aircraft collided with another Boeing 737-400 while taxiing for take-off
and this led to a substantial damage on the parked plane.
It was also gathered that the Emirates flight was aborted and passengers onboard the aircraft were evacuated immediately.
Confirming the development, the Head,
Public Affairs, Accident Investigation Bureau, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, said
the agency sent investigators immediately to the scene of the incident
to figure out what happened.
He
said, “A Boeing 777-200LR belonging to Emirates Airline was yesterday
(Monday) at around 9:30pm involved in a ground collision with a domestic
airliner at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, a B737-400
owned by HAK Air.
“AIB promptly deployed a team of
investigators to determine the circumstances surrounding the serious
incident with a view to making possible safety recommendations.”
Oketunbi explained that the Emirates
aircraft marked A6-EWD was taxiing for a take-off en-route Dubai when
its wing tip cut into the B737-400 aircraft parked on the apron of the
domestic wing of the airport.
“While the Emirates aircraft had a
little damage on its wing tip, the Hak Air B737 recorded substantial
damage. The Emirates flight was aborted and the passengers were
evacuated immediately,” he said.
The Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer
of AIB, Dr. Felix Abali, according to a statement from the bureau, on
Tuesday inspected the scene of the occurrence and promised that the
investigation would be handled with speed.
He was quoted as saying that “Every
incident is a safety issue that must be thoroughly investigated. This
will help in preventing accidents and sustain safety in aviation. This
investigation will be conducted with speed.”
Source:
Punch Newspaper
Punch Newspaper
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