The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has commenced investigation into the wing tip collision involving Middle East Airlines (MEA) and Turkish Airlines at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Daily Trust reports that there was panic at the airport on Wednesday evening when the two aircraft got involved in a wingtip collision.
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It was learnt that the incident occurred when a Middle East airplane, an Airbus A330-243 with the nationality registration marks OD-MEA was taxing to park on the apron while that of Turkish Airlines, a B777 aircraft was trying to depart the airport. The incident happened at the cargo wing of the airport.
Following the incident, the two aircraft were grounded by officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in line with the safety protocols to assess their airworthiness.
In July 2015, a Dubai bound Emirate flight aborted takeoff in Lagos after its wing touched a plane belonging to HAK Air on the runway. Two aircraft belonging to First Nation Airways were involved in a similar incident.
When contacted, AIB said it had been notified and hadcommenced investigation into the serious incident. Its spokesman, Tunji Oketunbi said: “The Turkish cargo aircraft was parked at the international apron when the Middle East airbus was taxing before it ran into it, cutting through the tail cone and damaged part of the right horizontal stabiliser of the Turkish aircraft.”
“All passengers on the Middle East Airline had to disembark with no injury or fatality. The Bureau will appreciate that the general public and press do not pre-empt the cause of the serious incident until a formal report is issued.”
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