Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority official, operators of accident plane arrive in Ghana

Accra, Ghana (PANA) – The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) says it is willing to help with investigations into the crash of a Nigerian cargo plane at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Saturday night.

Samuel Kayode, an official of NCAA, said this when he and Valentine Tongo, Chief Executive Officer of the ill-fated Allied Air cargo plane, met with officials of the Emergency Operations Centre established at the airport in Accra following the crash of the Boeing 727-200.

The plane, which flew from Lagos en route to the main Ivorian city of Abidjan, overshot the runway and crashed a minibus with the loss of 10 passengers on the bus.

Kayode, who was also accompanied by representatives of the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, expressed their sympathies for the unfortunate loss of lives.

All four crew members of the aircraft, however, survived and have since been discharged from the Airport Clinic in Accra.

He apologised on behalf of the Director-General of the NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, for his inability to come to Ghana.

Kayode said Demureen was scheduled to come but he could not make it because of Sunday’s air crash in Lagos, Nigeria, involving Dana Airline, which led to the death of some 153 passengers and many others on the ground.

Mrs. Doreen Owusu-Fianko, Chairman of the Emergency Operation Centre and the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, welcomed the team and said investigations into the accident were well under way.
-0- PANA MA 4June2012