BA aircraft’s technical hitch raises tension at Lagos airport

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Monday, May 27th, 2013

By Kenneth Ehigiator

LAGOS — Massive protests trailed the arrival of a British Airways’ flight from London at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, last night, as passengers aboard the flight could not retrieve their luggage, following the technical problem suffered by the airliner on touchdown.

Vanguard gathered the luggage cabin of the aircraft failed to open after the plane landed at exactly 6:15pm.

Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that what infuriated the aggrieved passengers was the failure of the crew to empathise with them.

Over 300 hundred passengers on board the flight were reportedly stranded for hours, as children cried uncontrollably due to the stuffy nature of the arrival hall, where they were cocooned, waiting for words from the crew.

The crew were said to have left the airport to avoid being manhandled by the passengers, who were getting very restive.

The eyewitness said: “The situation here right now is chaotic. Hundreds of passengers are protesting the shabby treatment of British Airways’ flight crew, who appear helpless to enable the passengers retrieve their luggage.

“The crew members are saying the aircraft suffered technical problem and it was making it impossible for them to open the luggage cabin.”

Passenger’s story

As at 9:05pm last night, the airline crew were said to have abandoned the passengers and left the airport, saying there was nothing they could do to open the luggage cabin.

One of the passengers on board, Mr. Crosby Eribo, confirmed to Vanguard that passengers, who arrived the airport on board the flight were suffering, with none of the airlines’ staff addressing them.

He said: “What is happening here is unfortunate. The airline’s officials have abandoned us here and children are here crying because of the humid nature of the arrival hall.

“Is this how we are going to run our aviation sector?”

He said efforts to get officials of the airport authorities to intervene yielded no results, as they said the problem was strictly a British Airways affair.

Efforts to reach British Airways’ officials proved abortive, as calls pull to their phones failed to sail through

wp_posts