250 Passengers Escape Tragedy In Near Plane Collision At MMA

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First Nation Airbus 330

By Nuel Suji, Abuja.

Over 250 passengers narrowly escaped what would have been a tragedy Friday at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 in Lagos where a ground collision of two planes belonging to First Nation Airways.

One of the planes was taxiing from the runway to MMA2 to disengage passengers, while the other aircraft was preparing to take off to Port-Harcourt Airport from the same terminal.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a similar incident had occurred at the airport on July 6, following the collision of two planes belonging to Emirates and Hak Air.

The Friday incident, it was gathered happened at about mid-day and involved two Airbuses 330 conveying about 250 passengers.

Agency report had it that the bodies of the two aeroplanes were partially damaged as a result of the collision.

The source alleged that the pilot may have been misdirected by the marshals to taxi to the wrong part of the apron.

According to the source, the Port-Harcourt bound aircraft was parked at Gate 4 while the arriving aircraft was bound for the Gate 3 of the terminal.

However, the source claimed that the marshals misdirected the arriving aircraft to the same gate as the parked aircraft which led to their wings brushing each other.

Following the incident, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority immediately grounded both aircraft while passengers were asked to disembark from the airline.

NAN further gathered that the refunds of tickets were made to passengers on the Port-Harcourt bound aircraft by the airline.

The NCAA also confirmed the incident in a statement issued by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Fan Ndubuoke.

Ndubuoke said no passenger was hurt and that the incident had been referred to the Accident Investigation Bureau for further investigation.

He also reiterated NCAA’s commitment to safety and security of passengers.