AP) � A passenger plane overshot the runway and skidded to a halt in a nearby field while landing Monday in Nigeria’s southeastern oil town of Port Harcourt but no one was seriously hurt, police and airport officials said.
The Boeing 737 owned by Nigeria carrier Chanchangi Airlines missed the landing strip at Port Harcourt International Airport Monday afternoon and skidded to a halt in a nearby field, Rivers state police spokeswoman Rita Inoma-Abbey said.
Airport Manager Godknows Ugwuzor described it as a “minor incident that involved no loss of life.”
“The plane overshot the runway, but damage was not extensive and most importantly there was no fire,” he said.
The flight was carrying 47 passengers and crew from the Nigerian capital of Lagos, about 270 miles away, Inoma-Abbey said.
An airport official said no one was seriously hurt, though two people were treated for minor injuries at the airport. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with media, also said there was no structural damage to the aircraft.
Nigeria has a history of air disasters. Hundreds of people were killed in four major crashes in 2005 and 2006. While authorities have vowed to regulate the aviation sector, analysts say reform is hampered by the country’s endemic corruption.