PRETORIA, 31 July (ANA) - An aircraft belonging to Turkish Airlinewas involved in a collision with a Middle East Airline at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, according to the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).
AIB’s general manager, public affairs, Tunji Oketunbi, said the bureau had been notified of the accident which had happened on Wednesday and had commenced an investigation into the “serious incident”.
“The Turkish cargo aircraft was parked at the international apron when the Middle East airbus was taxiing before it ran into it, cutting through the tail cone and damaging part of the right horizontal stabiliser of the Turkish aircraft,” according to a statement.
“All passengers on the Middle East Airline had to disembark with no injury or fatality.”
The AIB urged the public and media not to preempt the cause of the accident until a formal report had been issued.
The accident comes four days after the Nigerian government approved 14 airports for resumption of domestic flights following the March air travel ban as a result of Covid-19.
In a series of tweets, the country's aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, said that a resumption date for international flights had yet to be set.
He said the airports that had been allowed to commence operations were Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja; Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano; Port Harcourt International Airport, Omaguwa; and Sam Mbakwe Aiport, Owerri.
The others were Maiduguri Airport, Maiduguri; Victor Attah Airport, Uyo; Kaduna Airport, Kaduna; Yola Airport, Yola; Margaret Ekpo Airport, Calabar; Sultan Abubakar Airport, Sokoto; Birnin Kebbi Airport, Kebbi; Yakubu Gowon Aiport, Jos; and Benin Airport, Benin.
-African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Devereaux Morkel
