Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has temporarily shut the runway at the Port Harcourt International Airport to tow the Chanchangi Aircraft, B737-200, which overshot the runway on Monday evening when it landed at the airport.
The closure came as passengers of the plane yesterday attributed the incident to lack of runway lighting and bad weather. Some of them who said the grace of God and the experience of the pilot kept them alive, said the aircraft hovered for about two hours before the pilot said he was going to overshoot the runway.
Many of them who gathered to press for the release of their luggage still trapped in the belly of the aircraft, as safety regulations require that the aircraft should not be opened until investigators cleared it for luggage evacuation, said the plane landed in pitch darkness.
General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, Mr. Akin Olukunle, told newsmen yesterday that the runway had to be shut to flights in the interest of safety and to allow inspection and removal of the aircraft by accident investigators.
The consequence of the closure is the cancellation of flights to the airport, although some airlines still operate from the Nigeria Air Force Base in the city.
THISDAY learnt that one of the major domestic carriers, Aero Contractors, cancelled its morning and afternoon flights to the airport from Lagos .
With the cancellation of flights from Lagos to Port Harcourt, passengers were stranded at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, a situation that was made worse by the heavy down pour in the nation’s commercial nerve centre, which also led to the disruption of flights to other destinations.
Meanwhile, officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), that of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and a director from Chanchangi Airlines left Lagos yesterday morning for Port Harcourt to inspect the aircraft.
Jul162008