Dana Air denies that its aircraft was faulty pointing out that a passenger was to blame for door falling off

DANA Air has responded to the alarm caused by the doors of one of its aircraft falling off at the Abuja airport endangering the lives of its passengers stating that the incident only occurred because someone attempted to open it.

Earlier today, the door of a Dana passenger plane fell off at it taxied on the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja after arriving from Lagos. One of the passengers on the flight, Dapo Sanwo, said the door panel was loose all through the flight, adding that it indicated a lack of maintenance.

However, Dana Air has responded swiftly, denying this, saying that this would never have happened without a conscious effort by a passenger to open the exit door of the aircraft. Dana spokesman Kingsley Ezenwa, said by design, the emergency exit door of the airline’s aircraft are plug-type backed by pressure, which ordinary cannot fall off without tampering or conscious effort to open by a crew member or passenger.

Mr Ezenwa added: “We also wish to enlighten the author that when an aircraft is airborne, it is fully pressurised and there was no way the seat or door could have been shaking as insinuated. There was also no threat to safety at any point.

“The flight was only delayed for eight minutes as we needed to demonstrate to the regulators that the safety and comfort of our guests is at the centre of our operations. We wish to apologise to our guests for any inconvenience such report may have caused and for the slight delay on the return service to Lagos.”

He pointed out that a thorough inspection was however carried out on the said aircraft upon landing in Abuja, by the airline’s engineers and a team from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and no issue was reported. Mr Ezenwa added that a thorough investigation of the concerned passenger was ongoing.