Air Peace jet, antelope collide at Asaba airport, aircraft grounded

…NCAA clarifies delays

An air disaster was averted on Saturday when an Air Peace aircraft taxing on the runway collided with an antelope at the Asaba International Airport in Delta State.

The incident resulted in the grounding of the aircraft, disrupting the operations of the airline.

The impact of the collision also decimated the animal.

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection Michael Achimugu, who confirmed the incident on Sunday, via his official X account, clarified the implications of such occurrences.

Achimugu wrote, “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).”

He added that as a result of this incident, 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),” he added.

He stressed that while such events are beyond the control of the airline, they do not absolve operators from their responsibilities to passengers.

Achimugu added, “This explainer is for illustration purposes, 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 the same.”

NCAA further stated that efforts are currently underway to effect necessary repairs on the aircraft to enable it to resume normal operations.