A potential plane crash
in Nigeria was averted on Friday as an Arik Air aircraft lost one of its
two engines mid-air with over 100 passengers on board.
The
aircraft, a Boeing 737 with the registration number 5N-MJD, departed
from Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, for Jos when the pilot
discovered that the plane had lost one of its engines during the flight.
According to Sahara reporters, the aircraft was already 60 miles away from Lagos before the incident occurred.
Immediately
after the pilot discovered the problem, he contacted the Lagos control
tower, which granted him emergency landing status.
Passengers panicked when they were informed that the aircraft would return to Lagos, SaharaReporters gathered.
Upon
landing in Lagos, it was gathered that the aircraft could not taxi out
of the runway and it took the intervention of the Airport Rescue and
Fire-Fighting Services (ARFFS), a department in the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to tow the aircraft to the hajj and cargo
terminal area of the airport in order for the passengers to disembark
from the aircraft.
“The incident occurred at noon on Friday. The
aircraft had departed Lagos for Jos, but barely a few minutes into the
journey, the pilot radioed the Lagos control tower that it needed to
return to base.
“When the control tower heard this, they approved
the pilot for emergency landing, which he did successfully. The
aircraft had to be towed out of the runway by the ARFFS because it could
not move again.”
A source in the Accident Investigation Bureau
(AIB) said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was yet to
report the incident to the bureau for further investigation.
“As
an investigator, I can tell you that I am not aware of this development.
AIB should be the one to decide any occurrence if it feels that the
industry can gain any safety value from it,” the source said.
“There
had been complaints that the NCAA does not notify us at times when
there is an incident. It is by law that we should be notified in case of
any incident. The AIB Commissioner is empowered by law to investigate
any occurrence in the sector,” he explained.
Similarly, a source
in the NCAA said that the regulatory body was yet to be informed about
the incident, stressing that it was a reportable issue.
The cause of the incident remains unknown at the time of publication.
from sahara reporters.