Nigeria’s Dana Air is one airline that has had a dark past that it would wish to run away from, but as it tries to convince passengers that the dark days are in the past, another horrifying incident just recently took place.
An aircraft belonging to Dana Air is reported to have had its exit door break away and fall off during landing. Passengers in that flight claim the door seemed weak during their flight and they are very thankful that it only broke away from the plane during their landing.
The airline Media and Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa has sent press statements vehemently denying the claims that the door broke off on its own. Ezenwa categorically states that the door came broke away from the airplane after a passenger opened it from the inside.
Ezenwa’s statement reads in part, “We wish to state categorically that this could never have happened without a conscious effort by a passenger to open it (exit door).”
Local media houses in Nigeria are reporting cases of shaken passengers by the incident. The passengers say the exit door fell off as the plane was taxing in the Abuja airport. The plane appears to have been coming from Lagos.
One of the passengers, Dapo Sanwo says the door panel appeared to be loose throughout their flight, and says it appears the plane lacked maintenance. Another passenger, Ola Brown took to Twitter and tweeted her fears: “Flew Dana. Exit door was unstable throughout the flight. As we touched down, it fell off. Scary Stuff. I was closer to the front so when I heard the sound, (I) thought it was an explosion. (I) couldn’t quite comprehend that it (the door) had just fallen off…”
Flew Dana. Exit door was unstable throughout the flight. As we touched down it fell off. Scary stuff. pic.twitter.com/eDtTlNi2TZ
— Ola Brown(Orekunrin) (@NaijaFlyingDr) February 7, 2018
Despite all the testimonies from the passengers, Mr. Ezenwa says by the design of an aircraft, the emergency exit door cannot fall off in the fashion that did. The doors are plug-type back by pressure, which means it cannot fall off without someone tampering with it; either a crew member or passenger.
“We also wish to enlighten the author that, when an aircraft is airborne, it is fully pressurized and there was no way the seat or door could have been ‘shaking’ as insinuated,” further reads the statement by Ezenwa.
Dana Air is just one of the latest brands around the world that are finding its hard to do damage-control when news makes it to social media. The 21st century is unlike any other, information travel at lighting-pace, and if it is bad news (true or not) doing damage control can be quite tricky. The fact that virtually anyone can turn into a news reporter, all thanks to smartphones, backed with their camera and social media, news travel wide and fast.