Diverted flights as airplane incident closes Abuja runway

Several airline operations were on Sunday disrupted, and flights were diverted over a serious incident involving a B737 belonging to Cally Air but managed by Aero Contractors Airlines.

The incident was said to have occurred around 10:47 am (Local Time) when the aircraft, upon landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, from Lagos and in a bid to exit the runway via A4 had its nose wheel stuck in the grass verge with its fuselage on the runway

Consequently, the runway was closed pending the towing of the aircraft from the runway, leading to many aircraft that were on descent to hover for a few minutes before deciding to divert to the nearest airports or back to base.

Many aircraft that were Abuja-bound before the incident happened diverted to Kano. ValueJet’s 11.20 am flight diverted to Kano while Dana Air’s Flight 9j335 returned to Lagos. The incident dislocated so many people’s travel plans and put a huge cost on airlines and their schedules to the Abuja airport.

The National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), in a statement on Sunday, said, consequently, the runway was closed pending the towing of the aircraft from the runway.

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James Odaudu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NSIB, said there was no injury or fatality.

“The NSIB, hereby, solicits information from the general public in the form of pictures, video, or recording evidence to assist in conducting a comprehensive investigation,” the statement read.

He said that the NSIB would appreciate the general public and press respecting the privacy of the people on board and not assuming the cause of the serious incident until the formal report is released.

“The NSIB is a multimodal investigation agency charged with the mandate to investigate transportation accidents and serious incidents in Nigeria to identify the probable causes and proffer safety recommendations that can prevent reoccurrence,” the statement added.

He further disclosed that the accident investigative body would release the preliminary report as soon as possible