A Dana Air plane’s emergency exit door fell off shortly after landing at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, Nigeria, on February 7th.
The incident happened when the flight coming from Lagos, Nigeria, was taxiing on the runway.
One passenger fell out of the plane.
The airline said in a statement, “The emergency exit door of our aircraft are plug-type backed by pressure, which ordinarily cannot fall off without tampering or a conscious effort to open by a crew member or passenger.”
A plane skidded off the runway at Brookneal/Campbell County Airport in Virginia, on April 11.
The airport officials confirmed that the incident happened when the twin engine Cessna was attempting an emergency landing after its door came open midair. The plane was en-route from Florida to New York at the time.
The pilot, his wife and dog were onboard the plane. Authorities said only the pilot sustained minor injuries.
The incident remains under investigation.
American Airlines flight AA-5560 made a safe landing at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania, on June 27th, after a nose gear door separated from the aircraft.
The incident happened when the plane flying from Charlotte, North Carolina, was on final approach to Harrisburg International Airport.
Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
The flight was being operated by PSA Airlines.
Olusegun Mimiko, the Ondo State Governor promised to convey the remains of the victims, and support victims’ families of the Associated Airlines crash.
The deceased include protocol official Olayiwola Daji, his wife Olukemi, and other government officials. Mimiko promised the government would cover a university education for the victims’ children.
On behalf of the family, the nephew of Olayiwola Daji, Niyi Daji, urged the government “never to abandon the wife and children and father Pa. Adejoro Daji left behind by Olayiwola Daji.”
LGW Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter flight AB-8621 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Geneva Airport, Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland, on May 28th.
The de Havilland Dash 8-400 flying to Dusseldorf, Germany, on behalf of Air Berlin, had to return due to an open door indication.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
The ICAO audit for Nigeria comes up in May (a whole lot of initials here — NAMA (Nigerian Airspace Management Agency), NCAA, FAAN, NCAT (Nigerian College of Aviation Technology), NIMET (Nigerian Meteorological Agency), and AIB (Accident Investigation Bureau)— and before all of that, the US American Transportation Security Administration (ATSA) is in phase two of auditing Nigerian airports.
Arik Air, United Airlines, and Delta Airlines will be audited for safety as well, as they are the three carriers which fly to the US. Now that Nigeria has Category “ONE” status and can fly to the US, the FAA will continue strict safety auditing in order to maintain that safety status.
In Montreal, Canada from 24-26 May 2011., the ICAO will be hosting an Enhancing Runway Safety symposium. The official event sponsors are Airbus, Airports Council International (ACI) and Boeing. In April of 2010, the ACI World Director General, declared support for the African States such as Nigeria who adopted the Abuja Declaration, which demonstrates the determination of African nations to contribute to the development of a new global aviation security strategy.
Great press, but what happens next? Africa has a long way to go to establish true aviation safety standards.
Dana Air is returning to “service” six months after killing 153 in the notorious crash on Sunday, 3 June 2012. Dana Air Flight 992 crashed into two Lagos buildings. Poor maintenance and bad aviation safety practices led that Dana Air MD-83 to a dual engine failure that killed 153 aboard, 10 on the ground and caused many other injuries (on the ground.)
We might ask why Dana Air is returning to so-called service when it had the highest number of aviation fatalities in 2012 and the world’s highest McDonnell Douglas MD-83 death toll.
Should they really be offering flights when they have not explained away the cause of the Dana Air Crash? Perhaps they will keep flying until their remaining five McDonnell Douglas MD-83 have crashed, people grow more sense than to choose Dana Air on flights between Lagos and Abuja or LENDERS and LEASEHOLDERS choose to write better safety controls in their contracts.