Middle East, Turkish in wing tip, tail collision at Lagos airport

**Aircraft grounded

There was a mild incident today as an aircraft belonging to Middle Airlines had a collision on ground with Turkish Airlines.

The incident was said to have occurred when Middle East airplane was coming to park on the apron while that of Turkish Airlines was planning to depart from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The two airplanes are currently parked at the Lagos airport waiting for assessment to determine the extent of damage to the two aircraft.

An air traffic controller who pleaded anonymity confirmed the incident to Woleshadarenews but declined to give details, neither was he ready to give the registration numbers of the two aircraft involved in what it is described in aviation as a Ground Collision (GTCOL)- a collision that occurs while an aircraft is taxiing to or from a runway in use.

This type of incident is a common occurrence at the Lagos airport. In July 2015, light from Lagos to Dubai had to be aborted after the aircraft made contact with another plane parked on the runway.

The incident occurred when Emirates flight EK782 was taxiing down the runway when the wing of the aircraft made contact with a parked HAK Air plane at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

Few weeks after that, two airplanes belonging to First Nation Airways was also involved in ground collision.

One of the aircraft was taxiing from the runway to MMA2, to disengage passengers while the other aircraft was preparing to take off to Port-Harcourt Airport from the same terminal.

It was alleged that the pilot may have been misdirected by the marshals who directed the pilot to taxi to the wrong part of the apron.

Following the incident, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), immediately, grounded both aircraft while passengers were asked to disembark by the airline.

Wole Shadare