Two aircrafts collide on the runway of Lagos airport forcing passengers to disembark

PANDEMONIUM broke out at the Murtala Mohamed International Airport in Lagos yesterday when two aeroplanes collided with each other as one ran into a parked aircraft as it was preparing for take-off.

In the first such incident of its kind, an Airbus A330-243 owned by Middle East Airlines with registration number OD-MEA, ran into a Boeing 777 airplane with registration number TC-LJC operated by Turkish Airlines. Apparently, the Middle East Airlines Airbus ran into the Turkish cargo plane, which was parked at the international airport apron.

A cargo plane, the Turkish Airlines aircraft was said to be parked on the tarmac when the Middle East Airlines Airbus which was taxiing, ran into it. After the incident, the Middle East Airlines aircraft, which was bound for Port Harcourt, had to disembark its passengers who were already on board.

Fortunately there were no injuries or casualties from the accident but both planes were said to have suffered some damage to their bodies. Nigeria is yet to resume international flights following the coronavirus lockdown but domestic air travel has resumed across the country.

Secretary to the federal government Boss Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the presidential taskforce on Covid-19, said talks are currently ongoing with the aviation ministry about international flight resumptions. Several major international airlines had been hoping to resume flights to Nigeria in August.