An aircraft belonging to Air Peace, on Saturday, skidded off the runway of Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA) in Rivers State.
However, all the passengers were disembarked safely from the grass area. The aircraft, a Boeing 737, had 87 passengers and six crew members onboard.
A trending video of the incident showed passengers disembarking after the Air Peace aircraft came to a complete stop while some were rushing to quickly disembark but they were being calmed by authorities.
It was still drizzling when they disembarked from the aircraft, it was learnt.
The aircraft, with registration number 5N-BRN, was coming from Abuja when the incident happened around 3 pm.
Reacting to the incident, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide confirmed the aircraft had “a runway excursion” upon landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport on June 22 due to downpour.
She said: “Our professional crew quickly recovered within seconds of the incident and the aircraft was successfully normalised.
“Our esteemed passengers on board the flight were calm during the incident and disembarked normally.
“Our teams of experts and the authorities are currently reviewing the incident and we will give our cooperation for a thorough exercise.
“We apologise to our esteemed passengers for the inconvenience caused them and wish to assure them that we will continue to prioritise their safety in all our operations.”
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) said it had dispatched its investigators to the site to ascertain the immediate and remote cause of the incident.
“The aircraft skidded off the Runway to the left about 1300m from the Runway 21 threshold at the Port Harcourt International airport. All passengers and crew have been evacuated safely,” AIB said in a statement.
Spokesperson of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, while confirming the incident, said the runway had been cleared for normal flight operations to resume.
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