The disaster was averted at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on Wednesday as 393 passengers, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, escaped air crash.
Other prominent Nigerians in the Ethiopian airline passenger aircraft, Boeing 777-300, included the Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Amb. Ayoola Olukanni and the Director of Ports Inspection, National Agency For Food And Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), Prof Samson Tunde Adebayo. There were scores of Nigerians and other nationals aboard the aircraft.
The passenger aircraft, ET-901, had departed the Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, at about 9.10am, Ethiopian time (7 am Nigerian time).
The almost five-hour flight from the Ethiopian capital to Lagos had been smooth until the pilot attempted to land at the MMIA.
A source said that rather than landing on the first touchline of the runway, the pilot overshot it, due to rain and heavy wind, landing on the third touchline.
The source added that on realising this, the pilot quickly maneuvered the plane back air, and flew out of the Lagos airport.
After hovering between Lagos and areas suspected to be in Ogun, causing panic in passengers and crewmembers, the plane finally landed in Lagos airport, some 20 minutes after the initial false landing.
The atmosphere in the Airbus, upon landing, was like what is obtainable in some Nigerian worship centers, as many passengers broke into songs of praises and clapping, while some fell on their knees in prayers.
The source said that the Duty Manager and Chief Customer Service (Nigeria) of the airline, Mr. Otori Otan, said that if the pilot had continued taxing down after landing on the third touchline, he would have overshot the runway.
“But this is an experienced pilot. He realised this immediately.
“Fortunately, the distance between when he realized the situation still permitted him to take off and renegotiate landing,” Otori reportedly said.
He added that the incident was not out of place while confirming that the wind obscured the pilot’s vision.
Otori also disclosed that most of the aircraft that flew out of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport had to fly against the midday heavy wind.
“These things happen. That is where the sophistication of the aircraft and experience of the cabin crewmembers come in.
“The aircraft is one of the best you can have around and we are fortunate to have pilots who know their onions,” he said.
A source said Mr. Ikechi Uko, Media Consultant to Ethiopian Airline, confirmed that the aircraft had a “missed approach” while about landing due to poor visibility caused by inclement weather.
“The aircraft thereafter made an air return before it proceeded to land successfully,”
he reportedly said.
He said the pilot’s effort was in line with the Safety and Recommended Practices (SARPS) in aviation.
However, Uko said that the pilot, while initiating landing into MMIA, had been informed by air traffic controllers of poor visibility on ground the airport and in line with standard safety procedures the pilot opted to abort the process.
“The aircraft did not touch the ground neither did it overshoot the runway and there was no threat to any life,” Uko said, in reference to a near-crash story reported by a section of the media.
“It was raining as the aircraft was approaching Lagos. And what the pilot did was simply an aborted landing, a standard safety procedure, just as an air return, and pilots opt for this once the conditions to land are not safe. If the aircraft had landed or overshot the runway, then it could have crashed into something at the airport and be destroyed, thus leading to the shutdown of the airport. But the Lagos airport remains open and nothing is wrong with the aircraft. The pilot only waited for some minutes for the right conditions and thereafter returned to land,” Uko said.
A spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Sam Adurogboye in an interview with Daily Sun described the story as “fake news”.
Adurogboye said: “Nothing of that nature occurred; it’s simply fake. The pilot was informed that visibility had reduced on the ground as the aircraft was approaching the airport to land and there was a heavy downpour. The pilot was advised to hold.
“And once visibility had improved, he was cleared to descend and land. It happens all the time at airports all over the world, and it happens in our airports too to other airlines. The Ethiopian Airline aircraft later landed safely. So, we don’t have any record of an incident of aircraft that overshot the runway.”
Obasanjo and Olukanni had both attended a Stakeholders Dialogue on Continental Trade and Strengthening Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which ended on Tuesday in Addis Ababa.
