Passenger flays Arik over near-mishap, emergency landing at Ghana

A passenger of Arik Air has flayed the airlines’ poor handling of a near-mishap incident that forced its Ghana-bound plane to make an emergency landing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Tuesday.

The passengers onboard the plane alleged non-provision of trauma or medical care for scores disembarking from the “smoke-filled cabin” of the Dash8 Q400 plane. The Guardian learnt that the Arik Air flight W3304 took off from Lagos to Accra and developed technical problems about 30 minutes into the flight.

One of passengers narrated that 35 minutes into the 55 minutes flight, they started perceiving a burning smell, saying, “Before you could say jack, smoke filled the cabin. The air hostesses were busy scampering around, opening the cabins and the lavatories, to check if they could trace the source of the smoke without success.

“About five minutes after, the pilot informed us of smoke coming into the cabin and that they don’t know the source and had declared emergency. The flight successfully landed at 8.15pm (7.15pm Accra time) to the waiting of several fire service trucks at Kotoka International Airport, Accra. Sadly, there was no Arik official to address us, neither was there any manner of first aid given to manage stress and possible elevated blood pressures.”

The airline, while confirming the incident, added that it evacuated in accordance to best standards. Spokesperson, Banji Ola, explained that the pilot declared an emergency when smoke was detected in the cabin, 81 miles from Accra.