How mishap at Lagos airport grounded flights across the country

Flight operations nationwide were disrupted owing to an accident involving an Azman Aircraft at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

A Boeing 737-500 flight with registration 5N-SYS lost one of its tyres at runway 18R of the airport on Tuesday.

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The incident, it was learnt, prevented some aircraft from landing at the runway, causing passengers to be stranded across the country.

Daily Trust learnt that the incident happened due to bad weather. The Captain-in-Command of the flight was unable to land on the first approach at the airport.

A source said: “The weather in Lagos was very bad at the time the aircraft was about to land. The pilot tried to land on the first approach but the weather was so bad due to the heavy downpour in some parts of the state.

“However, he landed on a second approach and while landing, the aircraft suffered a burst tyre in an attempt to ensure the aircraft did not skid off the runway.”

As a result of the incident, several flights from Abuja, Port Harcourt and other parts of the country were affected.

A passenger on a Port Harcourt-Lagos flight told our correspondent that there was an announcement from the cabin crew that: “No plane can land in Lagos at the moment” while they were asked to disembark pending when they receive clearance from Lagos.”

A spokesperson with Azman Airline, Mr Nura Aliyu, confirmed the incident to our correspondent, blaming it on bad weather.

He said the situation was under control, adding that passengers were calm and that there was no panic.

As of the time of filing this report, the engineers of the airline were making efforts to evacuate the aircraft from the runway, according to the spokesman.

Another official of the airport, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “An Azman Airlines plane was involved in an incident in Lagos. It lost its tyre on landing. No casualty. Passengers evacuated. Aircraft about being towed.”