A passenger, and Benin based lawyer, Mr. Razak lsenalumhe and the management of Arik Air are currently at loggerheads over reports trending on social media of one of its aircraft which had an air return on the 8th of March 2021 while airborne enroute Benin from Abuja.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in response to Blueprint inquiries, said, it has already responded appropriately.
Isenalumhe in a telephone interview with Blueprint said, he is yet to recover from the trauma he experienced as he is still receiving treatment and said he will not fly again for the time being.
had claimed in the report, which has gone viral that the plane, a bombardier aircraft was faulty and a disaster waiting to happen.
But the airline management in its response described the report as unfortunate coming from a trained lawyer who displayed an unprofessional approach to the issue as he is not an expert to declare an aircraft unsafe.
The legal practitioner narrated the traumatic experience passengers went through before the flight was aborted.
Isenalumhe had claimed that “On the 7the of March 2021 I boarded an ArIk flight from Abuja to Benin. The flight was 5.50pm from Benin. The take off from Benin Airport was traumatic and clearly indicative that the plane was not in order.
We however managed to land at Abuja Airport after 1 hour 15 mins.”
He said “I was to return back to Benin on the 8the March 2021 at 4.15 pm with the same aircraft. After an hour delay, we managed to take off. 15 minutes into the flight, there was an announcement from the pilot that the flight cannot continue. The reason given was that there is an opening somewhere may be a door. The plane is to return back to Abuja before any disaster.”
In its response, Arik Air “Our attention has been drawn to stories published on social media claiming that Arik Air operations are unsafe following an incident last week.”
“The incident referred to by the author of the article occurred in Abuja on the 8th of March 2021. For the records, the actions taken by the crew of the flight were strictly precautionary as the Pilot-in-Command of the aircraft took the necessary safety measures by returning the aircraft to land as they have been well trained to do in line with standard practice, after observing a cautionary indication light in the cockpit. Our aircraft are modern, next generation aircraft equipped with redundancies and annunciators that enhance safe operations in all stages of flight.”
Affirming his claims, Isenalumhe, who spoke to our correspondent said he is yet to recover from the trauma he experienced as he is still receiving treatment and said he will not fly again for the time being.
He said “l am still recovering from the pains i went through and taking treatment. However if I did not survive it, my family will take the necessary action against Arik Air” he said when asked if he was planning to ask for compensation