150 Passengers Escape Death As IRS Aircraft Collides With Tanker

«§» 10 October 2012

At least 150 passengers escaped death Wednesday morning after an IRS Airline aircraft ran into a stationary tanker on the runway of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.

A statement by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Yakubu Datti states:

At about 7.30 a.m of today, October 10, 2012 the IRS aircraft, Forkker 100 with Reg. No. 5N SAT left the parking bay of MMA2 for the threshold of Runway 18L of MMIA.

The pilot, Capt. D Kelly was informed by an Arik Pilot of an obstruction on the taxiway towards Runway 18L and he Capt. D. Kelly felt he could manoeuvre the obstacle by his own judgment but this failed because the tip of the wing of the aircraft collided with a section of the gully emptier at about 7.45a.m.

Capt. D Kelly did not stop but continued to taxi back to the boarding gate of MMA2 to discharge his passengers.

No passenger or crew sustained injuries as a result of the incident. All the passengers were later transferred to another IRS flight to Abuja.

Officials of the Accident Investigation Bureau and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority were immediately invited to the scene of the incident for the on-the-spot assessment of the incident while engineers of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria were placed on stand-by to evacuate the stuck sewage tanker as soon as preliminary investigations by both AIB and NCAA are concluded.

FAAN accused the pilot of causing the accident.

Datti said the information was passed to Kelly by a pilot of Arik Air.

He said Kelly felt he could manoeuvre and not hit the tanker that fell into the ditch on Tuesday evening.

“At about 8.30 p.m last night (October 9, 2012), a gully emptier with Reg. No. XT 461 LSD on official assignment accidentally fell into a drainage in the taxiway ramp of GAT and could not be evacuated immediately.

“The Authority wishes to assure members of the public, especially airline operators and passengers, that the minor incident did not, and will not, in any way, disrupt flight operations at the airport,” the statement reads.

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Posted: at 10-10-2012 10:36 PM (11 years ago) | Hero

Thank God for this one.

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Posted: at 11-10-2012 05:23 AM (11 years ago) | Gistmaniac

Thank God

Posted: at 11-10-2012 08:59 AM (11 years ago) | Gistmaniac

But, what is going on in this country? Is it that he Pilot does not know his track anymore?

Posted: at 11-10-2012 12:00 PM (11 years ago) | Newbie