According to a report in the Guardian on Friday, Chanchangi Airlines has been grounded again on the orders of the NCAA.
This comes after another technical problem as reported by This Day newspaper:
A Boeing 727 owned by Chanchangi Airlines yesterday was in flames as it landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. The aircraft which arrived from Kaduna was scheduled to depart for Lagos.
Although the airline’s spokesperson, Olu Balogun, explained that the fire incident was first noticed in the cockpit, and not in the engine as believed, he added that the lagos-bound passengers were transferred to another aircraft which later took them to their destination. Balogun also said that the problem has been rectified.
The incident comes a few weeks after an aircraft belonging to Chanchangi Airlines made a return to Lagos after a hydraulic leakage was discovered shortly before touch down in Abuja. That incident occurred not too long after another Chanchangi-owned aircraft on its way to Kaduna from Lagos returned to base because one of its three engines broke down 20 minutes after take-off. One of the blades of the engine reportedly fell off.
A similar decision to return to base nearly caused a brawl between Chanchangi’s crew and two passengers in a flight to Lagos from Abuja.
The Chanchangi aircraft was already airborne when the pilot realized that its cargo hold door was open and had to return to base to close it. A passenger in the aircraft said there was a loud bang when the plane eventually landed as the cargo door hit the tarmac.
Attempt by two passengers to disembark from the plane was flatly refused by the crew.