An Arik Airline Boeing 737-700 with registration No 5NMJI on a routine flight to Lagos yesterday brushed the wing of a parked Nigerian Air Force C-130 (NAF 917) at the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Heipang, Jos.
The incident happened at about 13:45hrs (1.45pm) when the Arik aircraft was taxiing at the airport tarmac in preparation for takeoff.
According to a press statement issued in Abuja by the Air Force authorities and signed by Wing Commander A Makun for director of public relations and information, “the tank 1 wing tip of the NAF C-130 was damaged while the wing of the Arik aircraft was dismembered and hung on the NAF aircraft. There was no casualty recorded during the incident; however, the 2 aircraft had to abort their missions.”
The NAF C-130 was in Jos to airlift students of the Air Force Military School and Air Force Girls Military School. Meanwhile, a joint investigation by the Nigerian Air Force and Arik Airline management has commenced.