A turboprop aircraft belonging to Overland Airways was on Friday severely damaged by fire while it was parked at the airline’s hangar at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
It was gathered that the ATR aircraft, with registration number 5N-BPE, was being powered by the Ground Power Unit when the incident occurred.
However, there were no casualties as the fire was quickly contained by firefighters from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, even though the aircraft had been badly damaged.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said the regulatory authority had been notified of the incident and was awaiting the airline’s report.
“It was a minor incident and there were no casualties. We are still waiting for more details from the airline,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau, which is the agency charged with the responsibility of investigating any civil aircraft accident and serious incident, said it was set to commence a probe into what led to the fire incident.
The AIB spokesperson, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, said the bureau’s investigators had been deployed to the scene to ascertain what led to the incident.
He said, “Our investigators went to the site of the unfortunate incident and did the necessary things they should do. However, there was no intention of flight as regards the aircraft, which was seriously affected by the fire and so we can only operate within the limits of International Civil Aviation Organisation Annex 13.”
Also, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs. Yakubu Henrietta, said the AIB would come out with a report on what led to the incident.
The airline had yet to issue a statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
