By Abubakar Yunusa
An Air Peace plane hit and killed an antelope at Asaba airport on Saturday, causing significant damage to the aircraft and disrupting flights.
Michael Achimugu, the director of public affairs and consumer protection, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), announced the accident on X on Sunday.
“Monitoring reports yesterday indicated that an Air Peace aircraft ran into a large antelope, decimating the animal and leaving the aircraft AOG (aircraft on ground),” Achimugu said.
“As a result, flights meant to be operated by this aircraft would naturally be disrupted, even though engineers are on the ground to assess and fix the plane. Passengers waiting would naturally be infuriated.
“Incidents like this are literal illustrations of the disruptions NOT caused by the airlines (domestic or international).
“This explainer is for illustration purpose, not to excuse airlines when they fail to do their duties to passengers.”
Achimugu said that despite such situations, the airline still owes its passengers information, refunds, and other forms of care they are entitled to, and the airline can face sanctions if it fails to provide these.
This occurred a week after the NCAA asked Air Peace to address its incessant flight delays and cancellations.
Chris Najomo, the NCAA’s director-general (DG), advised the airline to trim its operations to the size of available aircraft to mitigate the crisis.
However, Air Peace said the cancellation and delay of some of its flights is due to safety concerns, dismissing claims of aircraft shortage.
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