Controversy has started brewing after a passenger aboard a Dana Air flight from Lagos-Abuja took to her social media handle to tweet about how the exit door of the aircraft she was on fell off after landing. According to the passenger, the door was shaky and unstable all through the flight to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Corroborating the news, another passenger who was aboard the flight expressed his displeasure at the state of the aircraft and has called for the proper maintenance of the fleet.
Responding to the outrage the incident has caused, Media and Communications Manager for Dana Air, Kingsley Ezenwa, in a statement said the fall out of the exit door wouldn’t have happened without a conscious effort by a passenger aboard the aircraft.
“We also wish to enlighten the author that, when an aircraft is airborne, it is fully pressurized 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 twitter handle user who was aboard the flight and made this incident public has however countered the statement made by Dana Air. According to her, the passengers seated close to the exit door complained about the state of the door prior to the aircraft taking off.
In the meantime, the public is not taking the news lightly and various people have taken to their various social media platforms to express their displeasure. Japheth Omojuwa, a popular social media influencer has called on the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika to look into the matter.
Some of the enraged users have asked that legal actions be taken.
Just some weeks ago, a commercial aircraft belonging to Dana Air nearly crashed after hitting the fence of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. In 2012, a Dana Air Flight 992 crashed, less than five minutes before landing at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos resulting in the loss of lives of all 147 passengers and 6 crew members and 10 people on ground. A report released by the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) attributed the crash to double engine failure, human error and laxity of the regulator.
Dana Airlines Limited operating as Dana Air is a fully private sector-owned carrier which commenced flight operations on 10 November 2008.
