An Air Peace Airbus A320 has been taken out of service following a collision with ground handling equipment at Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1 in Lagos, the airline has confirmed.
The incident took place after Flight P47427 arrived from Kano and passengers had safely disembarked. A baggage conveyor belt vehicle operated by the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company struck the aircraft’s engine, causing damage severe enough to render the plane completely unserviceable, according to the airline.
Air Peace said the disruption would ripple across its wider network, since the affected aircraft had been scheduled to operate several flights over the following days. The airline warned that passengers should expect delays across multiple routes, with some flights likely to be cancelled entirely as the company works to adjust its fleet and limit the fallout from losing the aircraft.
In a statement, the airline apologized to travelers whose plans would be disrupted, describing the incident as an unforeseen ground handling issue outside normal operations. It said customer service and operations teams were already working to find alternative arrangements for affected passengers and to reduce the inconvenience as much as possible.
The airline also stressed that passenger, crew, and equipment safety remains its top priority, and said it was coordinating with both the ground handling company and aviation regulators to determine exactly what went wrong and to prevent similar incidents going forward.
NAHCO did not respond to requests for comment on the collision.
However, a source with knowledge of the situation told Vanguard that the crash was linked to a medical emergency involving the equipment operator. According to the source, the employee, identified as Mr Sunday, lost consciousness while operating the conveyor belt vehicle. With no one in control, the machine continued moving forward and collided with the parked aircraft.
The source said the man was rushed immediately to the hospital operated by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria for emergency treatment and remains admitted there. She confirmed his condition required urgent hospitalization given the nature of the emergency.
The collision adds to a growing list of ground handling concerns at Nigerian airports, where equipment malfunctions and human factors have periodically disrupted airline operations. For Air Peace, the country’s largest carrier, the loss of a single aircraft from its active fleet is enough to create scheduling ripple effects across multiple routes, underscoring how tightly stretched aircraft rotations can be within Nigeria’s domestic aviation sector.
As investigations continue, both the airline and aviation authorities are expected to examine not only the cause of the operator’s medical episode but also broader safety protocols surrounding ground equipment operations at MMA1, particularly procedures for responding when equipment operators experience sudden health emergencies while machinery is in motion.
