A combined picture of Air Peace aircraft snd Antelop
By Victory Oghene
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has commenced probe into the Air Peace aircraft that ran into an Antelope at Asaba Airport.
The aircraft was grounded following its collision with an antelope while taxiing on the runway of the Asaba Airport.
The incident which occurred on Saturday smashed the animal and resulted in the aircraft being marked Aircraft on Ground (AOG).
The flight, which had an undisclosed number of passengers onboard, was slated for Abuja when the incident occurred.
The incident further disrupted scheduled flights.
The Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Michael Achimugu confirmed the incident on Sunday in a post on his X handle @mikeachimugu01.
He stated: “Monitoring reports yesterday indicated that an Air Peace aircraft ran into a large antelope, decimating the animal and leaving the aircraft AOG (aircraft on ground).
“As a result, flights meant to be operated by this aircraft would naturally be disrupted, even though engineers are on the ground to assess and fix the plane. Passengers waiting would naturally be infuriated.
“Incidents like this are literal illustrations of the disruptions not caused by the airlines (domestic or international).
Achimugu added, “Even with situations like this, the airline still owes its passengers the information, refund, and other forms of care they are entitled to, and can still be sanctioned if they fail to provide same”.
Achimugu stated that the Aviation Security Unit of NCAA has commenced an investigation to know the circumstances surrounding the incident”.
Achimugu, however, assured passengers of safety.
“Delays were caused to flight operations between Saturday and Sunday because we made sure that the aircraft is airworthy. The delays in this case are not the fault of the airline”.
