Overland fire incident: Airline says aircraft was not in operation

MANAGEMENT of Overland Airways yesterday explained that it’s aircraft asset , an ATR which got burnt yesterday morning was undergoing routine maintenance inspection and was impacted by a foreign object which led to the fire that damaged the aircraft.

The airline in a statement late last night said the incident was a lone incident and that the aircraft was not in public service when the unfortunate incident occurred.

According to the statement, the fire was put under control by a combined safety team of the Overland Airways and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) fire services.

The statement read,”We are very grateful to God almighty that there was no injury to any personnel, no load of life and no third-party damage recorded. Also our ultra-modern hangar was not damaged. We are currently investigating the cause of the incident and the relevant aviation agencies will be duly notified.”

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau ( AIB) has also deployed to the site of the incident confirming that there was no intention for the aircraft to fly .

A response by the AIB Spokesman, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi stated,” Our investigators went to the site of the unfortunate incident and did the necessary things to do. However, we discovered 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 ICAO Annex 13.”