Dana Air Aircraft That Crashlanded At Port Harcourt Is 27.3yrs Old
SaharaReporters investigation has revealed that the Dana Air aircraft, which skidded off the runway earlier in the week was 27 years and 3 months as at the time of its crash.
The aircraft, an MD83 with the registration number 5N-SRI was manufactured in November 1990 and was among the oldest aircraft in the fleet of the airline.
The investigation indicated that the aircraft was previously used by Alaska Airlines in the United States under the registration number N947AS and was delivered to the airline on December 7, 1990.
However, the investigation further revealed that after 18 years of usage of the aircraft by Alaska Airlines, Dana Air acquired the aircraft from the American carrier on a permanent basis on August 4, 2008, when it commenced flight operations as an airline operator in Nigeria.
The aircraft would have clocked 10 years with Dana Air on August 4, 2008, if it had not crashlanded on Tuesday.
The youngest aircraft in the fleet of Dana Air is a 21 and half years aircraft, MD83 with the registration number: 5N-BKI, which was equally acquired from Afrijet, another Nigerian airline on October 5, 2014, with the same registration number.
History of the aircraft indicated that it was first delivered to U-Land Airline on September 25, 1996, by the manufacturer. The aircraft was however leased to Astro Air International in October 1997 under the registration number: B-88899.
After about nine months of usage, Astro Air International leased the aircraft to Air Philippines in July 1998, before Afrijet acquired it in January 2008.
Another old aircraft in the fleet of the airline is another MD 83 with the registration number: 5N-DEV. The aircraft is 26 and half years old.
