Barely 36 hours after a plane crashed in Lagos, killing 13 persons,
tragedy was averted, on Friday night, in Sokoto, after an aircraft
with 494 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and 18 crew members on
board, lost two tyres while landing.
The technical crew of Kabo Air plane saved the day as it confronted
the emergency and taxied to a halt.
The flight, which originated from Kano, was said to be at the Abubakar
Sadiq III International Airport, Sokoto, to pick some high profile
passengers before heading to Saudi Arabia.
The incident happened just as a Benin-City bound aircraft could not
land and had to return to Abuja.
The plane reportedly stayed in the air for two hours for the 30-minute
Abuja-Benin flight and then returned to Abuja.
Heavy rains in Benin-City were blamed for the inability of the pilot
to land the plane at the Edo State capital.
The Sokoto incident was said to have thrown the plane passengers,
airport workers and security agents into panic.
One source said the tyres were hit by a sharp object on the runway as
the plane touched down.
The Kabo plane was immediately ground at the airport by regulatory
agencies pending investigation and determination of what caused the
tyre blowout.
Meanwhile, the management of Kabo Air, yesterday, dismissed the claim
that "its aircraft made an emergency landing in Kano", adding that
"what happened was that our aircraft lost its two rear tyres while
landing in Sokoto".
The Corporate Affair Manager , Kabo Air, Aminu Hamza, who described as
"laughable an online report that depicts an air mishap, said: "How can
an aircraft that was airborne lose its tyres?" According to him, it
was a ridiculous and mischievous news peddled by unpatriotic elements
to paint the aviation industry blac.
Narrating the incident, Hamza said, "About 494 passengers were on
board during the incident, and it was a tripartite journey that took
off from Kano en-route Sokoto to Jeddah. We are happy to announce that
none of them was injured".
The Corporate Affairs Manager disclosed that " we have since sent a
rescue aircraft from our fleet to convey the passengers to their
destination, adding that " from reports at our disposal, everything is
going on as planned".
Shedding more light on the landing mishap, the Director of Flight
Operations of Kabo Air, Mr. Joseph Machimu, noted that "the aircraft
just returned from maintenance in Malaysia". According to him, the
aircraft air worthiness is not in question.
Machimu explained: "We were not surprised by the noise the landing
mishap generated because those who are close to the industry know
clearly that tyre burst at the point of landing is a normal incident."
The Director stated that " the pilot who was fully conscious of the
mishap took full control , taxied it and parked the aircraft to pave
the way for evacuation".
Reacting to the incident, yesterday, Mr. Joe Obi, Special Adviser to
the Minister of Aviation, stated that the plane only had a stop over
at the airport to pick additional passengers. However, he admitted
that the aircraft landed with deflated tyres and damaged parts of the
instruments landing system (ILS) at the runway.
Obi's statement reads: "On October 4, 2013, a Boeing 747-3 aircraft
with Reg 5N-JRM, operated by Kabo Airlines arrived safely with all
passengers and crew on board, following a landing incident at the
Sokoto airport at 2100 GMT.
" The aircraft, which departed from Mallam Aminu Kano International
Airport, Kano, was enroute Saudi Arabia when it had a stop-over at the
Sokoto airport for passenger pick-up. Preliminary reports indicate
that the control tower gave the pilot clearance to land on Runway 08
but the captain opted to use Runway 26, for reasons yet to be
ascertained. The 512 souls on board, made of 494 passengers and 18
crew members, landed safely. The aircraft, however, damaged some
Instruments Landing System (ILS) and came to a stop with deflated
tyres. The FAAN emergency response apparatus acted swiftly to secure
all souls on board and the aircraft.
"The airline has since made arrangements for another aircraft to pick
the passengers to complete their journey to Saudi Arabia."
Bad weather
Meanwhile, the Abuja-Benin flight that could not land caused anxious moments.
After about 30-minutes into the flight and the plane unable to land,
passengers were said to have been held in frightful suspense.
The pilot, it was learnt, explained to the passengers that he was
unable to land the plane due to heavy rainfall in Benin which caused
poor visibility as well as waterlogged and slippery runway.
The scenario allegedly caused uneasy calm and panic in the aircraft
which hovered in the Benin airspace for about 45 minutes, as people
silently and openly prayed to God and sang spiritual songs.
The fright that gripped the passengers in the plane was not helped by
the fact that the newspapers most of them had were awash with reports
and pictures of the plane crash involving the corpse of the late
former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Agagu, the previous day.
An attempt to land the plane at nearby Esubi Airstrip, Warri proved
abortive too, following which the pilot allegedly informed the
passengers that he could not lose more aviation fuel trying to land
the plane, and then opted to fly back to Abuja, a decision the
passengers applauded.
On return, Abuja was said to have had rainstorm too but with a
well-lit runway that was not waterlogged. The plane landed
successfully to the relief of the passengers.
A good number of the passengers were said to have opted for a refund
which the airline obliged, while others resolved to still travel with
the flight rescheduled for 9: 30am yesterday.
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