An equipment belonging to Skyway Aviation Handling Company on Sunday bumped into an Arik Air aircraft at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two, Lagos.

The aircraft was scheduled to operate the Lagos-Port Harcourt route before the incident occurred on the ramp.

Arik Air recently announced the relocation of its Lagos-Port Harcourt flight operations from the General Aviation Terminal to the MMA2.

The Public Relations and Communications Manager, Arik Air, Adebanji Ola, said in a statement on Monday that the airline had reported the incident to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority after providing an alternative for passengers.

He said, “Arik Air has reported incidents involving two of its aircraft on Sunday, March 18, 2018 to the NCAA. This is in line with standard operating procedure and the airline’s high safety standards.

“The first incident involved a Boeing 737-700 marked 5N-MJJ, which was bumped into by the SAHCOL step on the ramp at the MMA2. The aircraft, which was scheduled to operate W3 744 (Lagos-Port Harcourt), had its left side leading edge of horizontal stabilizer damaged. Another aircraft was provided immediately for the Port Harcourt bound passengers. The airline’s engineers later fixed the damaged aircraft, which has since returned to service.”

He added that the other incident involved the airline’s Bombardier CRJ900 marked 5N-JEB, operating the Owerri-Lagos flight, which had been grounded at the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri as a result of a technical issue during pre-departure procedure.

According to him, a relief aircraft was immediately sent to Owerri to take the already checked-in passengers to Lagos with minimum delay.

“We apologise to our customers on the flight for the inconveniences they might have experienced as a result of the incident. We remain committed to our safety policy, high operating standards and customer service,” he added.
Punch