A total of 67 people comprising 62 passengers and five crew members escaped death on Tuesday when the aircraft carrying them overshot the Runway in Port Harcourt.
The Managing Director of ValueJet, Capt. Dapo Majekodunmi, attributed the incident to the presence of algae on the runway.
According to him, Captain Stanley Balami reported that the algae on the tarmac prevented the aircraft, a ValueJet CRJ 900 Bombardier, with registration 5N-BXR , from maintaining the center Lane.
He said that there were no injuries or death in the disturbing development which occurred at 15.32 hours.
However, the Network investigation revealed that the plane may have been diverted from it course by a ditch on the runway.
A journalist who witnessed the incident told the Network that the aircraft landed shortly after a heavy rainfall in Port Harcourt.
The accident made the Federal Airport Authorities of Nigeria to close the runway for about three hours from 4pm to 7pm.
The situation forced the Ibom Air plane which landed around 2:45 and waited because of the rain for passengers to disembark to fly around 7pm.
The source said, “I was at the Airport when the incident occurred. The Ibom Air flight that took us to Abuja was delayed for three hours because the runway was closed.
We were forced to disembark and given transit tickets but we were able to fly about 7pm.
The Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NSIB, James Odaudu, said in a statement in Abuja that investigations into the accident had begun.
“The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has been notified and has commenced an investigation into a serious incident involving a Boeing 737 with nationality and registration marks 5N-BYQ belonging to Aerocontractors Airlines, which occurred around 10:47 am (local time) on November 12, 2023.
“The aircraft upon landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from Lagos and in a bid to exit the runway via A4 had its nose wheel stuck in the grass verge with its fuselage on the runway.
“Consequently, the runway was closed pending the towing of the aircraft from the runway. There was no injury or fatality.”