A Middle East Airlines (MEA) Airbus collided with a Turkish Airlines aircraft in Lagos yesterday afternoon.
The MEA aircraft was identified as OD-MEA. It is an Airbus A330-200 that has flown for MEA for 11 years. The plane had operated ME571, the regularly scheduled flight from Beirut to Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. The incident occurred as the aircraft was beginning the return flight to Beirut.
It remains uncertain quite how it happened, but preliminary sources indicate that perhaps the ground staff turned the A330 too early, resulting in a collision with the Turkish B777-300 / ER (registered TC-LJC). The particular aircraft might carry 244 passengers.
One airline employee did not accept, nevertheless, that perhaps the Middle East Airlines (MEA) pilots were not aware of their surroundings. They said that the crews had been in regular communication with the ground personnel at the time. The employee said it was due to incompetence on the part of the MEA pilots.
See photos from incident:
(C) Control TV 2020.
