Dana Air Md-83 aircraft in 2021 crash-landed at the Iju area shortly before reaching the Lagos airport, killing all the 153 passengers on board
By Kehinde Okeowo
Another air disaster was averted on Monday evening, as no fewer than 50 passengers who were onboard a Lagos-bound aircraft were rescued after its tyres caught fire.
TheNiche newspaper learnt the incident involved a Dana airplane scheduled to take off from Port Harcourt International Airport enroute Lagos.
The flight had initially been delayed and the airline operators reportedly told the passengers that their flight was delayed because of bad weather.
It was also gathered that no passenger was injured as first responders including operatives of the fire service at the airport moved in to control the situation.
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In a statement entitled: Press statement on Port Harcourt Incident of 2/5/22, on Tuesday morning, Dana Air spokesman, Kingsley Ezenwa, said the aircraft had been grounded pending the conclusion of their investigations.
It partly read: “Our aircraft with registration number 5N JOY operating flight 9J 344 from Port Harcourt to Lagos on 2nd of May 2022, was set to take off when the pilot in command noticed an anomaly which he queried with the Air Traffic Control before embarking on a ramp return in line with our strict safety operating procedures
“However, the impact on the brakes as a result of the aborted take off affected the aircraft tyres which sparked off while the aircraft was taxiing to repark.
“All 50 passengers on board the aircraft disembarked safely and our maintenance team has immediately grounded the aircraft pending the conclusion of their investigations. Once again, we sincerely apologize to all the passengers on the flight for the inconveniences caused due to the eventual cancellation of the flight.”
In 2012, a Dana Air Md-83 aircraft crash-landed at the Iju area shortly before reaching the Lagos airport, killing all the 153 passengers on board.