The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has refuted reports that Royal Air Maroc flight that arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, early yesterday morning was attacked.
The agency said that immediately the aircraft with registration number CN – ROR touched down on the runway and taxied towards the terminal, it was escorted by security operatives until it arrived the terminal.
FAAN said there was no indication that the aircraft was attacked and remarked that the baggage compartment which was discovered to be open, might have been caused by a hard landing, which jolted the aircraft and caused the luggage compartment door to open.
The agency also said that no luggage was missing, as every passenger on the flight collected his or her luggage, except one passenger whose luggage was confirmed to have been left in Morocco.
A statement issued by FAAN and signed by its General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubusaid, “A Royal Air Maroc flight with registration number CN – ROR landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport at about 0404hours today (yesterday) October 11, 2019 with its baggage cabin door opened.
“Confirming the incident, Aviation Security officials that escorted the aircraft upon landing noted that although all necessary security landing procedures were observed as the aircraft was landing and there was no invader around the aircraft, they suspected the opening must have been as a result of a forced landing.
“Further investigation revealed that all passengers on the flight got their luggage intact, except for a certain Tazi Larbi, whose luggage with tag number 829116 did not come on the flight because it was left in Morocco
“Appropriate agencies have however commenced an investigation into the incident to ascertain the cause. The aircraft pushed back at about 0530 hours and was airborne to Morocco at 0540 hours.”
An official of the airline, who craved for anonymity, also confirmed that no luggage was missing, adding that there was no indication that the aircraft was attacked.
Source: THISDAY
