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Flooding, wet surface behind Dana Air’s PH runway scare, says AIB

By Wole Oyebade
07 March 2018   |   4:19 am
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) yesterday released the preliminary report on the recent Dana Air plane incident at Port Harcourt International Airport, citing flooding and wet surface as primary casual factors.

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) yesterday released the preliminary report on the recent Dana Air plane incident at Port Harcourt International Airport, citing flooding and wet surface as primary casual factors.

The findings, though still inconclusive, also found out that after the aircraft came to a halt, emergency evacuation was carried out using only the left forward main door but “the escape slide on this door did not deploy just as the Public Address System did not work.”

The Dana Air MD-83, which took off from Abuja on February 20, 2018, had an uneventful flight to Port Harcourt and was cleared to land by the Air Traffic Control.

According to the report, the crew reported that the runway had experienced recent rain before arrival and after touchdown, felt contaminated with flood that did not drain well.

“Spoilers and Reversers were deployed and brakes were applied. The aircraft continued on the landing roll, crossed the end of the runway to the blast pad. The aircraft came to a stop at a distance of 298 metres from the end of runway 21, slightly left of the extended centre line,” the report reads in part.

While none of the 44 passengers and five crew members was injured, the aircraft was substantially damaged.

In a related development, the AIB also released preliminary findings on the serious incidents involving Delta Air Airbus A330-223 aircraft on February 13, 2018 and another accident involving Gulfstream G200 aircraft belonging to Nest Oil, which occurred at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on January 25, 2018.

About 2251hrs, a schedule flight DAL55, belonging to Delta Air Lines Inc., departed Lagos, for Atlanta, United States of America, with 221 passengers and 13 crew members. The aircraft made an air return few minutes after take-off following a fire warning on one of the engines.

The Commissioner of AIB, Akin Olateru, while commenting on the release of the reports in Lagos, reiterated the commitment of the agency to prompt churning out of findings to enhance safety.

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