1,400 passengers stranded at Abuja airport as runway shut over accident
A Max Air aircraft Boeing 737, conveying 68 medical doctors and other passengers, made an emergency landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja after losing two tires.
The aeroplane, which managed to land on the runway, rendered the runway closed for operations due to the emergency.
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The incident happened at about 3 pm, and as of 6 pm, the aircraft had yet to be evacuated from the runway, causing flight disruptions as several airlines had to reschedule their flights.
Airport officials disclosed that the runway had been closed, adding that all the passengers were successfully evacuated.
The Abuja airport runway is hereby shut down until further notice. The aircraft landed safely, and all passengers were evacuated.
All Air Peace flights to Calabar, Asaba, Owerri, Warri, and Benin have been cancelled. All these cancellations are outright. They will be communicated when their flights have been rescheduled.
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Other scheduled flights to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and other parts of the country were put on hold.
One of the Max Air passengers told newsmen that the Abuja-bound flight was coming from Jalingo, Taraba State.
He said they had gone to Jalingo for the annual delegate conference of the Nigerian Medical Association, adding that no fewer than 68 medical doctors were on board the aircraft.
He said, “There were 68 medical doctors and other passengers on board the aircraft, including the President of Nigeria Medical Association. We were lucky to have successfully landed. If anything had happened, NMA would have been in a real disaster. The country would have felt it.”
An official of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told the waiting passengers that the airport runway would be reopened after the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and other agencies had completed their investigation.
It was learned that the tire debris and other particles would have to be thoroughly cleaned from the runway before it became operational.
