No fewer than 300 passengers of Delta Air Lines were today stranded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos over mechanical failure to the carrier’s aircraft.
It was learnt that the passengers who were on their way to Atlanta Georgia, US, were already boarded for an afternoon flight out of Lagos, but were later disembarked from the aircraft due to the mechanical failure that was discovered in the aircraft, reports Daily Independent.
Our correspondent learnt that the inability of the airline to airlift them as scheduled led to protest among the passengers, but the media consultant to the airline in Nigeria, debunked the claim.
The passengers, it was learnt, were onboard the aircraft for about four hours before they were told to disembark, which did not go down well with them.
One of the affected passengers who contacted our correspondent said, “We were inside the aircraft for good four hours and we didn’t even know what was happening. They initially told us they were trying to get fuel for the flight. We were inside the aircraft until a few minutes ago when we were told the aircraft cannot depart again because it is faulty.”
But, Mr. Tope Ogbeni-Awe, the Media Consultant to Delta Air in Nigeria, debunked the protest claim.
Ogbeni-Awe, however, confirmed that the airplane was scheduled to airlift the passengers out of the country today, but had to be rescheduled due to mechanical fault and crew time out.
He also explained that all the affected passengers would be lodged in a hotel in strict adherence to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and recommended practices till they are airlifted tomorrow.
He said: “There is no protest at the airport. The aircraft had a mechanical issue. The aircraft was pushed back and the mechanical fault was addressed, but by the time they were through with the mechanical issue, the crew time was up and there is no way they will continue with such a flight.
“So, what the airline has done is to reschedule the flight for tomorrow morning (Saturday). The airline will also put all the passengers in a hotel for another flight tomorrow morning.”
