My guy’s life saved as Dana aircraft’s engine exploded shortly before take-off, man raises alarm; Airline says “fake news”
A user “X” (formerly Twitter) has raised alarm that the engine of an aircraft belonging to Dana Air exploded shortly before take-off.
The X user, King David Hybrid, made the announcement on his handle, @kingdavidfirst, on Wednesday, November 22, noting: “God just saved my guy”.
He wrote:
“Dana aircraft’s engine just exploded just shortly before take off. The flight was supposed to be from Lagos to Abuja. God just saved my guy. Nigeria is a joke. @DavidHundeyin is always right.”
Reacting to the development, however, the management of Dana Airline debunked the story, saying it is “fake news”.
In a press statement signed by the Management and obtained by News Band, the airline said it had some operational challenges and non- scheduled maintenance which led to the disruption of its schedule.
It also noted that the passengers on the affected flights have been provided options while the issues have been resolved.
The statement reads:
“Our attention has been drawn to an online post suggesting that one of our engines exploded shortly before take off.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have given such a baseless and unfounded post from the X handle the attention it is seeking, but for the benefit of enlightenment and our valued guests who have shown better understanding.
“Today, the 22nd of November,2023, we had some operational challenges and non- scheduled maintenance of our aircraft which led to the disruption of our schedule.
“While passengers on the affected flights have been provided options and issues resolved, we are still wondering where this Twitter user got his fake news from.
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“At Dana Air, the safety of our staff and customers remains a top priority and we urge the public and discerning minds to disregard this fake news which is obviously attention-seeking and malicious.”
By mentioning David Hundeyin, meanwhile, the poster was apparently referring to the report written by Hundeyin earlier in the year which exposed the corruption and rot witnessed in the country’s aviation industry.
In a report entitled “West Africa Weekly Aviation Special [Part 1]“, Hundeyin spoke about “a briefcase airline, unreported accidents, bitter boardroom disputes… [and a] journey into the crazy world of Nigerian civil aviation in 2023”.
He wrote extensively about a perceived nonchalant attitude of the management of some airlines who would rather live in denial than face reality and prioritise safety concerns with the tacit cooperation of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
The report concluded as follows: “His final chilling paragraph revealed that 45 people were onboard when what should have been reported as a major aviation incident took place.
“That is, 45 innocent lives that could have been ended by an ongoing conspiracy of silence involving the NCAA, FAAN and at least 2 major airlines.” Read more.
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