250 escape death as 2 planes collide in Lagos

Tragedy was averted at the second terminal of the Murtala Muhammed international airport in Lagos on Friday following a ground collision of two FirstNation Airways aircraft.

A similar incident occurred at the airport on July 6 when aircraft belonging to Emirates and Hak Air collided.

Friday’s incident which happened at about mid-day involved two Airbus 330 conveying about 250 passengers.

The two aircraft had their bodies partially damaged as a result of the collision.

A source at the airport told NAN that one of the aircraft was taxiing from the runway to MMA2 to disengage passengers while the other aircraft was preparing to take off to Port Harcourt airport from the same terminal.

The source alleged that the marshals might have misdirected the pilot to taxi to the wrong part of the apron.

The source added that the Port Harcourt bound aircraft was parked at Gate 4 while the arriving aircraft was bound for Gate 3 of the terminal.

The marshals were said to have also directed the arriving aircraft to the same gate as the parked aircraft which led to the two wings brushing each other.

Following the incident, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded both aircraft immediately while the airline asked passengers to disembark and refunded the tickets of the Port-Harcourt bound passengers.

Confirming the incident, Fan Ndubuoke, general manager, public affairs, said the issue had been referred to the accident investigation bureau (AIB) for further investigation.