SAN FRANCISCO, April 21, (THEWILL) – A plane belonging to Dana Air, heading to Port Harcourt in Rivers state, lost one of its engines mid-air on Friday, forcing it to make emergency landing at the Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos.
The airline, in a statement by its Spokesman, Kingsley Ezenwa, revealed that a bird strike (a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is airborne) was responsible for the incident which left hundreds of its passengers stranded.
He revealed that engineers were checking the aircraft to ascertain whether to completely change the engine or remove some blades insisting that the safety of its passengers remains its major priority.
“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 bird strike during take-off from Lagos,” he said.
“Our captain took a professional decision and returned to the Lagos airport.
“As per standard safety procedure, which is the hallmark of our operation, our pilot returned to base.
“The aircraft is currently being evaluated by our engineers to determine the effect of the bird strike on the affected engine.”
After a few hours, the airline made an alternative provision for passengers who were on board the faulty aircraft, and they arrived at their destination safely.
