BY Busola Aro
Air Peace has asked regulatory authorities to investigate a recent damage to its aircraft elevator by a ground handling equipment belonging to the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO).
Confirming the development on Wednesday, Stanley Olisa, spokesperson of Air Peace, said the incident occurred at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
Olisa said the affected aircraft is an Airbus A320 belonging to Air Peace with the registration number: A320 ES-SAZ.
He explained that the aircraft was scheduled to transport passengers to Owerri from Lagos but the flight schedule was disrupted after the ground handling equipment — operated by NAHCO’s staff — rammed into it.
“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 airline’s schedule,” he said.
“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 further said the airline had made a formal complaint to NAHCO management on the incident.
Meanwhile, Sola Obabori, group executive director, business and corporate services (GED), NAHCO, confirmed the incident.
Obabori said it was not possible for its staff to deliberately and maliciously damage one of its major customer’s aircraft.
He added that the company had filed a report on the incident, adding that NAHCO had commenced engagements with the airline on the matter.
“We have a very cordial relationship with the airline and we have been together all these years, we serve them diligently and professionally,” Obabori said.
“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.”
Obabori also said the staff might have had a blind spot, which “prevented him from seeing well”.
He, however, assured that the company would review the situation so that such an incident would not reoccur.
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