Tragedy was on Saturday night averted in Lagos and Kano as two aircraft carrying about 300 persons escaped air mishap
Specifically, an Abuja-London British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft with 172 passengers and 14 crew members had an emergency landing at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, while a Lagos-Abuja IRS Fokker 100 aircraft with 101 passengers and seven crew members had a burst tyre on the runway while speeding to take-off.
According to the General Manager, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Akin Olukunle, the British Airways pilot had noticed in the cockpit that there was a smoke in the aircraft’s engine moments after taking off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Consequently, he said, the pilot decided to land at the nearest airport, which was Kano. He said that the aircraft landed successfully and the passengers disembarked.
On the IRS incident, he said that all necessary airport rescue service personnel were mobilized to the runway to evacuate the passengers immediately after the incident.
Olukunle said that the Minister of Aviation, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba and the Managing Director, FAAN, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, who happened to be around in Lagos took part in the rescue operation.
However, he said that arrangements were being made with Aero Contractors airlines to airlift the BA passengers back to Abuja.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Media Consultant to BA in Nigeria, Mr. Bolaji Okusaga, said, “Only a Boeing 777 with registration number 11H operated the BA 83 Heathrow-Abuja service last night. It declared a PAN on approach to Abuja this morning. The aircraft was inspected by engineers who thought they had fixed the problem by isolating air conditioning pack. Approximately into the return of BA 82 Abuja-Heathrow flight, smoke was again detected in the cockpit.
The flight crew went on to provide oxygen and for passengers in the first class and Club World who were believed to have smelt smoke, oxygen were not deployed.
They are 155 passengers on board. The captain took the decision to declare emergency and diverted to Kano airport. The aircraft landed safely in Kano.The passengers are currently in the aircraft. It is a five-hour drive”