Two Arik aircraft collide

Arik Airline

Two Boeing 737-800NG aircraft belonging to Arik Air were grounded by the carrier on Tuesday afternoon after they were involved in a ground collision on the tarmac of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

According to the airline, nobody was hurt in the incident, which occurred at the General Aviation Terminal of the airport.

Arik Air’s spokesperson, Mr. Ola Adebanji, said the incident happened when one of the aircraft was on its way to embark on a scheduled flight.

He said the aircraft’s wing brushed that of another plane belonging to the carrier, adding that the situation was adequately handled by the firm’s team.

Adebanji said in a statement, “Two of our aircraft, Boeing 737-800NG, were this (Tuesday) afternoon involved in a wing-tip brush at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

“One of the aircraft, 5N-MJP, was marshalled out of the ramp for a scheduled flight when its wing brushed that of another aircraft, 5N-MJQ, parked on the ramp. There were no incidences as the safety of passengers was not jeopardised. We have grounded the two aircraft and are looking into the incident.”

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, told our correspondent that it was compulsory for the airline to file a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting with the agency, telling it of the incident.

Although he stated that he had not been briefed of the incident as of the time of filing this report, Adurogboye stated that it was expected of the carrier to report the incident to the NCAA for appropriate action.

He said, “It is an incident. Once there is a disruption in a flight operation, which does not involve damage to the aircraft or fatalities, then it is an incident. Once you operate an aircraft, there are bound to be incidences and the regulation requires that they file the report of any incidence with the NCAA immediately by telephone and putting it in writing thereafter.

“So, they are bound to call us within the hour. Our people will now be sent to ascertain the incident and if it is something that is worth maintenance, we will ensure that after it is done, we recertify the aircraft before they return to operation. That is the regulation.”