Nigerian airline blames passengers after exit door falls off

An airline in Nigeria has blamed a passenger after a door fell off a plane while it was landing.

The journey from Lagos in the southwest to the capital of Abuja ended in dramatic fashion when the emergency exit door came loose and crashed on to the runway.

The BBC reported that passengers insisted that no-one had tampered with the door but the airline Dana Air argued that it could not have come loose without someone interfering with it.

Dapo Sanwo told the BBC how events unfolded after he noticed that something was wrong with the door.

He said: "The flight was noisy with vibrations from the floor panel. I noticed the emergency door latch was loose and dangling.

"When we landed and the plane was taxiing back to the park point, we heard a poof-like explosion, followed by a surge of breeze and noise. It was terrible.

"The cabin crew tried to say a passenger pulled the hatch which everyone denied. They also tried to get us to stop taking videos or pictures."

Dana Air have insisted that the incident was not a mechanical fault.

The company said: "The emergency exit door of our aircraft are plug-type backed by pressure, which ordinarily cannot fall off without tampering or a conscious effort to open by a crew member or passenger.

"When an aircraft is airborne it is fully pressurised and there was no way the seat or door could have been shaking as insinuated."

The airline went on to say that the aircraft had been inspected by engineers alongside a Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority team and that "no issue was reported".

"The [return] flight was only delayed for eight minutes as we needed to demonstrate to the regulators that the safety and comfort of our guests is at the centre of our operations," said the airline.