Aircraft goes up in flames at Lagos airport

An aircraft belonging to Overland Airways caught fire at the company’s hangar at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos on Friday.

The fire broke out as the aircraft was being serviced.

Henrietta Yakubu, spokeswoman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), said no life was lost in the incident.

Passengers and other airport users were frightened when they saw smoke billowing from that side of the airport.

Fire fighters immediately moved in to curtail the inferno from spreading.

According to THISDAY, a pilot said the aircraft was being tested by the company’s technical personnel at the time of the incident.

The pilot was quoted to have said the personnel tried to use a motored the engine inside the hanger and as the propeller began to spin, it hit the ground power which sparked and caught fire.

“I went to the tarmac to see what happened. They were trying to motor the engine in the hangar, which is not done, especially for turbo props. We don’t do that because the rotor will be moving. So when they did that it hit ground power,” he said.

“The ground power sparked and caught fire and the two tyres of the aircraft caught fire and burst and the aircraft went into flames. The three persons in the aircraft walked out of the aircraft.

“Motoring is a situation where you switch on the ignition without fully starting the engine. In a car, it is when you switch on the car halfway without starting the engine. You can listen and play music, wound down the glass and honk.”