An Air Peace aircraft last Saturday, ran into a big antelope, at the Asaba airport, killing the animal in an accident that left the aircraft badly damaged.
Mr. Micheal Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCCA) said in a statement on Sunday that “as result of the incident, the affected aircraft was grounded and taken out of service, with flights scheduled cancelled.
The onboard passengers who were left stranded, were visibly agitated. Achimugu say engineers have been deployed to assess the extent of the damage and restore operations.
The NCAA spokesperson was quick to note that while this was not the fault of the airline, it highlighted the urgent need for tighter airside wildlife control at Nigerian airports.
“This explainer is not to excuse airlines when they fail in their duty to passengers,” he added. “But it’s important to recognize when delays are due to factors beyond airline control.”
Achimugu further stressed that airlines are still obligated to provide timely information, care, refunds, or alternative arrangements in line with aviation consumer protection regulations.
According to him, sanctions could follow if such obligations are not met, regardless of the cause of delay.