A large antelope has grounded an aircraft belonging to Air Peace, resulting in the disruption of scheduled flights and leaving passengers infuriated.
It was gathered that the Air Peace aircraft collided with the antelope on Saturday while taxiing on the runway of the Asaba International Airport, Asaba, the capital of Delta State.
The incident, which decimated the animal, resulted in the aircraft being marked Aircraft on Ground (AOG).
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has confirmed the unforeseen incident.
NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr. Michael Achimugu, who confirmed the incident, stressed incidents like this are part of the challenges that lead to flight disruptions.
“Incidents like this are literal illustrations of the disruptions not caused by the airlines (domestic or international),” Achimugu said.
He, however, noted: “this explainer is for illustration purpose, not to excuse airlines when they fail to do their duties to passengers”.
He went further to note that even with situations like this, the airline still owes its passengers refund and other forms of care they are entitled to.
The NCAA Director stressed that Air Peace could still be sanctioned if they fail to provide information, refund and other forms of care passengers are entitled to.
“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).
“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.
“Even with situations like this, the airline still owes its passengers the information, refund, and other forms of care they are entitled to, and can still be sanctioned if they fail to provide same,” the NCAA Director stated.