There was a massive panic yesterday among the on board passengers of Azman Air as one of the engines of its aircraft failed mid-air.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 with the registration number 5N-NAS had departed the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos to Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), Port Harcourt with 114 passengers onboard before the incident occurred.
A source close to the airline said that the incident occurred at 10:57am.
According to the source, 35 minutes into the flight, the pilot-in-command had informed the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) at Port Harcourt Airport of the breakdown of one of its engines and declared emergency immediately.
It was gathered that the ATC approved the emergency status for the pilot, but the pilot in an attempt to land, missed the approach light and had to re-position again.
Within this period, it was learnt that there was a huge panic among the passengers who were already informed of the incident.
An unconfirmed report claimed that one of the wings of the aircraft had caught fire mid-air before one of the two engines collapsed in the air.
Sam Adurogobye, the general manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, confirmed the incident.
Adrugoboye said that the airline had alerted the regulatory agency of the incident and that its inspectors would check the aircraft to ascertain its level of damage.
He, however, said that the airline had sent in another aircraft to airlift some of its passengers out of Port Harcourt to other cities.
He said: “It is a safety issue. The airline has alerted us of the incident. The fact is that the aircraft had an engine issue mid-air, but it was able to land safety at Port Harcourt Airport. After the incident, the airline had sent in another aircraft to airlift its passengers from Port Harcourt.”
IFEOMA OKEKE
