Nigeria’s major domestic operator has explained that the fall of the emergency door of one of its aircraft on landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja has not infringed on the safety of its operations.
The airline said that it has commenced investigation into the incident and allayed the fears of its passengers.
Dana Air in a statement signed by its spokesman, Kingsley Ezenwa said that the door couldn’t have fallen off without a conscious effort by a passenger to open it and assured that it is investigating the incident.
“Dana Air’s attention has been drawn to some online publication that the door of one of our aircraft fell off after landing and whilst taxing in Abuja today. We wish to state categorically that this could never have happened without a conscious effort by a passenger to open it. By design, the emergency exit door of our aircraft are plug-type backed by pressure, which ordinary cannot fall off without tampering or conscious effort to open by a crew member or passenger.
“When an aircraft is airborne, it is fully pressurised and there was no way the seat or door could have been ‘shaking’ as insinuated. A thorough inspection was however carried out on the said aircraft upon landing in Abuja, by our engineers and a team from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and no issue was reported. There was also no threat to safety at any point.
“The flight was only delayed for eight minutes as we needed to demonstrate to the regulators that the safety and comfort of our guests (passengers) is at the centre of our operations. We wish to apologise to our guests for any inconvenience such report may have caused and for the slight delay on the return service to Lagos. A thorough investigation of the concerned passenger is ongoing,” the airline said.
Spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye said the agency has directed four of its inspectors to investigate and find out what happened and noted that the airline was allowed to operate the flight back to Lagos where it has its maintenance facility.
A pilot also explained that the door could really open without anybody fiddling with it and this is known as component failure but dismissed the possibility of the emergency door falling off while the aircraft is airborne, which he said might have been caused by hard landing.
“What happened is likely to be a component failure due to hard landing. It couldn’t have fallen off when the aircraft was airborne because the aircraft cabin is pressurised. It is very difficult for that to happen but it could fall off when the aircraft is on ground,” the pilot said.
