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Dana Air Flight Returns to Lagos after Birdstrike
A Dana Air flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt made an air return after it collided with a bird mid-air.
This was confirmed in a statement by the airline on Facebook with an explanation of what occurred. The aircraft had to return to Lagos and passengers were transferred to another aircraft.
The statement read:
On 21st of April, one of our aircraft with registration number 5N-SRI operating our 11am flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt, had an air return due Birdstrike during take-off from Lagos, and our Captain took a professional decision and returned to the Lagos Airport.
A Bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is airborne and as per standard safety procedure, which is the hallmark of our operation, our pilot returned to base.
Our guests have however been reprotected on another aircraft to ensure that their itinerary is not entirely disrupted. The aircraft is currently being evaluated by our engineers to determine the effect of the bird strike on the affected engine.
At Dana Air, the safety and comfort of our guests will remain a top priority to us and we will stop at nothing in our commitment towards offering a safe and reliable air transport.
This is coming 3 days after an Aero Contractors flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos was filled with smoke. One of the passengers on the flight shared a video of the incident.
Every One on this aero contractor flight could have died today but for God. I’m grateful. Nigerian airports need new directors/ flights pic.twitter.com/KB65yWRJYw
— ORIAKU (OKWESILIEZE) (@puffypearl) April 18, 2017
The flight with 52 adults and one infant on board landed safely at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.
Aero in a statement regretted the inconvenience the incident might have caused to the passengers, saying the Chief Executive Officer, Captain Ado Sanusi had ordered full investigation into the incident.
The airline said contrary to the different accounts of the incident reported online with some claiming the smoke started from the baggage compartment, “preliminary report has it that at 1645 GMT about 75NM to Lagos at 24,00ft, the cabin crew observed that the cabin was misty”.
“This was reported to the Captain, who briefed the passengers accordingly assuring them of a safe landing in Lagos in a couple of minutes. Expectedly as announced by the pilot, normal descent was initiated into Lagos. While descending however, a passenger went into the lavatory, after which the lavatory smoke detector alarm came on. The cabin crew again reported this incident to the Captain and by this time the smoke was getting denser in the cabin,” the airline said.
The airline said the crew contacted air traffic control in Lagos and requested for emergency support services.
“At this stage again, the cabin crew reassured the passengers and handed out wet towels to them as a precautionary measure for such incidents. The Captain also announced to the passengers to be calm as the smoke in question did not present any irritation or discomfort. The aircraft landed at 1703 GMT without any incident,” the airline said.
