Panic as aircraft hits truck on taxi way in Lagos airport

A sewage tanker that got stuck after fallen into a drainage at about 8.30 p.m on Tuesday night in the taxiway of General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos  State has caused a minor damage to an aircraft  in the airport.

The gully emptier with registration number XT 461 LSD which belongs to Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was on official assignment when it accidentally fell into the gutter.

The aircraft, a Folker 100, which belongs to IRS Airline, was scheduled to operate flight LVB 3306 out of Lagos to Kano flight with a transit stop at Abuja.

Information from the Airports Authority and the airline said no passenger or crew member on board the aircraft sustain any injury.

Confirming the story, the managing Director of IRS airline Mr. Yemi Dada in a release said the aircraft which had 91 passengers on board was taxiing to the runway when the incident occurred.

 He said pilot of the flight Lagos-Kano flight via Abuja had observed a FAAN truck in a ditch and there were no marshallers around it  nor any marking to indicate that it encroached into the taxi way. Also there was no NOTAM issued to that effect.

He said the Captain continued on his taxi and in the process the wing tip of the aircraft  hit a protrusion from the truck towards the rear of the truck which caused the  Pilot to request for a return to Ramp from the tower and also notify the tower of the incident and the danger posed by the truck,

“This morning our flight LVB 3306 taxied out on a Lagos to Kano flight with a transit stop at Abuja. The Aircraft taxied out at 7:48am with 91 passengers. While on the taxi way, the Captain D Kelly observed a FAAN truck in a ditch. There were no marshallers around it neither was there any marking to indicate that it encroached into the taxi way. There was no NOTAM issued to that effect as well. The captain continued on his taxi and the wing tip hit a protrusion from the truck towards the rear of the truck. This made the Captain request for a return to Ramp from the tower and also notify the tower of the incident and the danger posed by the truck. The passengers were disembarked and re-accommodated on another aircraft which departed Lagos at 10:15am,” the IRS boss said.

 General Manager Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria Hon. Yakubu Dati  who also confirmed the incident said it has been reported to relevant aviation agencies,  Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) whose officials  immediately reported to the scene of the incident for on-the-spot assessment of the incident while engineers from Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria were placed on stand-by to evacuate the stuck sewage tanker as soon as preliminary investigations by both agencies concluded.