A staff of Nigeria’s local DANA Airlines has said the airlines’ MD 83 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Lagos on Sunday, killing over 150 people, was pressed into operation by the airlines’ management even though it was not in good shape.
”The aircraft has been giving problems and was not supposed to leave Lagos on Sunday,” the unidentified staff said in an audio interview with the local Channel TV station on Monday.
”The station manager said it should not go, but the (airlines) management said it should,” the staff, a lady going by her voice, said.
She cited several instances in which the same plane had broken down in Abuja, the nation’s capital, as well as in Uyo, capital of Southern Akwa Ibom state.
She said on one occasion, the plane broke down in Uyo and it took between five and six hours to repair it.
”After the repair, it was immediately pressed into service, flying into Abuja and then to Lagos with passengers,” she said.
Her statements could not be independently verified, but the interview has been playing over and over on the TV Channel, as the nation seeks answers to the worst air crash in the country since 2006.
