100 escape death as taxi crashes into plane at Calabar airport
Mike Odiegwu, Calabar, Published: Thursday, 1 Apr 2010
About 100 Abuja-bound passengers escaped death on Wednesday by a stroke of luck when the driver of a taxi with an unclear mission broke into Margret Ekpo International Airport’s tarmac and ran into a Boeing 5N-MJJ aircraft belonging to Arik Airline.
Our correspondent learnt that the incident, which occurred as the plane was preparing to take-off, sent jitters down the spines of the passengers, who screamed and immediately dashed to safety.
It was gathered that the driver of the blue Audi, with registration number NA 234 KAM, gained access to the tarmac through the Nigerian Air Force security gate by crashing through the first and second gates of the security wall, which act as a barricade.
He was said to have immediately headed straight for the plane, which was about taxing down the runway for take-off.
There were speculations that the suspect was on a specific mission to blow up the plane since he accelerated towards the fuel tank.
However, this was not confirmed by airport or security officers.
The bewildered security officials were said to have made futile attempts to stop the driver, whose mission was, however, averted when the car missed its target and got stuck under the belly of the plane.
Some of the panic-stricken passengers who spoke to our correspondent, said they were jolted by a big bang when the car made contact with the plane.
The passengers, who disembarked from the plane and ran for safety, added that they had expected the worst following fears that they were being attacked by a suicide bomber.
Narrating his experience, one of the passengers, who did not want his name in print said, “We were afraid this was another act of terrorism. We were just settling in for the flight when we heard a very loud bump. Then we heard the alarm and were asked to disembark.
“At first, we thought it was a fire and when we found out that a car on full speed had ran into the fuel section of the plane, pandemonium ensued and everybody scurried down the gangway to the relative safety of the departure hall.”
He added, “It was just a miracle that the driver was not successful because he got to our plane quite all right and hit it the way he wanted to. God sure has a hand in this. If he had a bomb on him, by now it would have been a different story.”
“How can a commercial vehicle ram two gates of the Air Force, get to the tarmac and hit an airplane preparing to take off? This is an indication of the security lapses in the country.”
Culled from Punch
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