Chaos In Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport As Passengers Ground ARIK Air Operations Over Alleged Irresponsibility

                     

    Arik Technician making fruitless efforts to convince the passengers to board the faulty Aircraft

Odogwuemekaodogwu.blogspot.com brings you Agenda report on chaos at our prime Airport.

Hell was let loose this afternoon at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, as stranded passengers grounded the operations of Arik Air, one of Nigeria’s leading Airline operators, accusing them of irresponsibility.

Trouble started when a particular Aircraft, W3 762, PCS/WT ETKT 7255453747522-2, which was provided for passengers travelling to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital was rejected by the passengers over its history of malfunctioning.

Investigations revealed that the Aircraft which was to fly to Port Harcourt yesterday developed a fault and could not fly. Minor repairs were said to have been done on it overnight and was positioned to fly this morning, when it could not start.

Speaking to The Agenda Correspondent, one of the passengers, Barrister Wilson Julius who vowed to drag the airline to Court, explains:

“We learnt that the Aircraft developed a fault yesterday. This morning, I was to board Arik Air to Port Harcourt from Abuja. After boarding the Aircraft, we sat in for about forty minutes with the doors of the Aircraft closed, ready to fly but the Aircraft could not start. We didn’t know. We were seated in the Aircraft until when some of us started panting inside as a result of the absence of air. The Aeroplane did not start. They were struggling to repair it while we were inside. Finally, we were evacuated and asked to sit inside the departure hall, waiting for another flight. At about 10am, an announcement was made, postponing the take off by one hour. After all the delay, at about 11.45am, we were asked to board, now joined with the 10.10 passengers. Surprisingly, they took us to the same Aircraft that is faulty and we protested, as life has no duplicate.”

Adding his voice, a Social Crusader and one of the passengers, Walter Duru who expressed concern over the development accused the Airline of gross irresponsibility and impunity, even as he called on relevant authorities to call the airline to order, in order to safeguard the lives of Nigerian air travelers.

Surprisingly, no Management staff of the Airline showed up as the drama, which lasted for about three hours ensued. When the situation got out of hands, with passengers grounding the entire operations, refusing all Arik Aircrafts from taking off, the Pilot of the Aircraft and a technical staff only came out to state that the fault had been fixed.

A staff of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, who gave his name as Mohammed promised to get an NCAA Engineer to come and inspect and certify the Aircraft fit to fly. The passengers waited for about three hours without seeing any one. The NCAA Staff disappeared and never returned.

At about 3pm, when the matter became very critical, with the passengers threatening violence, the Arik duty Manager, one Mr. Ogaji, showed up and addressed the passengers, proposing that they wait till 4.50pm to join the next Aircraft to Port Harcourt.

It would be recalled that Arik Air and other Airline operators have on uncountable occasions been accused of compromise over the safety of Passengers, by positioning Aircrafts that are not Air-worthy to fly passengers to different destinations.

It is on record that such compromises in the past led to air crashes that claimed the lives of many Nigerians.

The crash of Dana Airline that claimed the lives of nearly two hundred Nigerians; the Sosoliso Air crash, among others are still very fresh in our minds.

Dana Airline had long resumed operations in the country, while the circumstances surrounding the ugly incident remain unresolved.

Many have however blamed the regulators in the Aviation Sector for the rot.

As at the time of filing this report, the passengers are still stranded at the Airport, helplessly hoping that the 4.50pm Flight shall be feasible.

All efforts to reach the Management of Arik Air for official comments proved abortive.

Courtesy The Agenda written by Destiny Ugorji