The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has debunked the rumour that one of the airplanes operated by Dana Air crashlanded at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, News About Nigeria reports.
Recall that on Tuesday, a report had surfaced stating that one of Dana Air airplanes crash-landed at the airport.
According to the report, the MD-82 aircraft (5N-BKI) veered off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Tuesday morning, resulting in the collapse of its nose gear.
Speculations were that the crash was due to stormy weather conditions at the time.
However, refuting the report, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NCAA, Mr Mike Achimugu, maintained that it was not an accident.
He stated that it was a runway excursion, adding that officials of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) were on ground to investigate the incident.
“Even the images would prove that it was a runway excursion. It is called a ‘serious incident’ and not even an accident. There was no crash landing. The statutory agency for investigating incidents like this is the NSIB and they are on ground,” he said.
Speaking also, an aviation management consultant, Mr Babatunde Adeniji, explained that a runway excursion is when an aircraft veers off or overruns the runway, which he maintained was the case of today’s incident.
“A runway incursion is when an aircraft or vehicle that should not be on the runway enters the runway. A runway excursion is when an aircraft veers off or overruns the runway. Today’s mishap was a runway excursion.
“We don’t speculate in aviation, we always wait for the investigators’ reports. But, remember the aircraft takes off and lands at an extremely high speed, so any small wrong turn or skid in the surface can catapult it anywhere,” Adeniji explained.
