In a highly embarrassing development, yesterday, 34 passengers onboard an Abuja to Bauchi flight were forced to disembark from an Aero Contractors by climbing down a manual ladder. Widely ridiculed as something out of the Dark Ages, the incident has forced the airline to publicly apologise.
According to Aero Contractors, it had no option than to resort to the use of a ladder because it had problems with unserviceable equipment. According to the airline, as of at the time the 34 passengers boarded the chartered flight at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the air stairs was functional but the one at Bauchi refused to work by the time the plane landed.
An Aero Contractors spokesman said: “A special charter flight operated by Aero to Bauchi had problems with unserviceable equipment by the airport management in disembarking about 34 passengers from Abuja. Consequently against the airline’s wish and operation safety guidelines, the passengers used a ladder to disembark.
“Aero wishes to state that it took adequate and safety measures for this operation, including the airport’s ground staff crew to handle the air stairs equipment in Bauchi, unfortunately it became unserviceable at the point of disembarkation. Although the airline crew tried to calm down the passengers to wait while the equipment was being fixed, the passengers insisted on their own volition to disembark against all safety protocol of the airline.”
It is now likely that the airline will be fined by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (Faan) for then transgression. Once touted as Nigeria's national carrier, Aero Contractors is one of the country's biggest airlines and is the oldest operator in the domestic industry.
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