The management of Air Peace has called for investigation into frequent smashing of it aircraft by the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc.
The airline made the plea following yesterday’s damage caused to its Airbus A320 marked A320 ES-SAZ at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
It was gathered that NAHCO equipment rammed into the aircraft and caused a disruption in the airline’s operations.
As of the time of the incident, the aircraft was scheduled for a 7am flight.
It was also positioned for about 10 flights for that day.
Spokesman for the airline, Mr. Stanley Olisa, who confirmed the incident alleged sabotage.
“This is the third time in one month. The aircraft is now grounded and we don’t know when it will be up again. The NAHCO staff had no reason to be where he was. He was not assigned to the aircraft and how he rammed into our aircraft is still shocking.
“This is going to cause revenue loss for us as an airline. The aircraft was scheduled to operate several flights on (Wednesday), but could not do so, causing flight disruptions and delays.
“The authorities should investigate the incident and take necessary actions. We have made a formal complaint to the NAHCO management,” he said.
However, the NAHCO’s group executive director, business and corporate services, Dr. Sola Obabori, who also confirmed the incident, dismissed the sabotage allegation.
He described Air Peace as its “prime client” adding the entire handling company’s staff, including those at the airside staff are well-trained and certified by both local and international bodies.
He said the company would investigate the incident as well as discuss it with the airline’s management.
Besides, he said NAHCO had filed a report on the incident.
“It is not possible for us to deliberately and maliciously damage our key customer’s equipment. We are doing the best that we can to take care of our customers. Air Peace is a key customer of NAHCO, without any doubt. We share a very cordial relationship with them and we have been together all these years, we serve them diligently and professionally.
“Our staff are well-trained; accidents do happen. You will agree with me that aircraft do crash due to human error. In this particular case, our operative was driving to attend to another flight that arrived before Air Peace.
“He was driving towards that direction and wanted to support that operation, but he committed an error in terms of processes he was supposed to follow, which he didn’t follow and that was what caused the incident. The guy had a blind spot, which prevented him from seeing well. We will review what happened so that there will not be a recurrence again,” Olabori said.
