Nigeria Content Online

Domestic air
travellers in the country on Sunday expressed varied concerns following
the mishap involving Aero contractors aircraft which crash landed in
Jos airport last Saturday.

The incident which
saw the Boeing 737-500 aircraft having its two nose tyres punctured on
landing on the runway of the airport due to hazardous weather, has
instilled fear in some passengers, while most travellers see the
development as normal.

“That occurrence is
regular when it comes to flying it will not stop me from flying. But it
is quite impressive to know that we have experienced pilots that can
land aircraft with flat tyres,” said Ebube Geoffrey, a passenger at the
Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2).

Mr. Geoffrey,
however, called on the relevant authorities to fix the aircraft should
there be equipment failure resulting from the incident.

“The airline in
question has not had any crash, if I’m correct, so I don’t think this
should be big deal; but that does not mean they should use a faulty
plane to carry loyal customers like us,” he said.

Another traveller,
who gave her name as Sandra, said it is frightening to hear of
incidents involving aircraft, adding that though there was no casualty
in the recent happening, airline operators should endeavour to use
standard parts on their aeroplanes.

“Though I
air-travel often, flying to Abuja this evening seems a bit scary to me,
after hearing about the effect of bad weather in Jos yesterday,” she
said. “I hope airlines use new equipment on these aircraft, and the
regulatory agencies mandate them to do so for safety reasons.”

Unshaken Aero

The airline, in a
statement after the incident, promised that the aircraft will commence
flight after thorough checks by its engineers.

“All the passengers
on board were safely disembarked from the aircraft. Aero has promptly
dispatched engineers to the airport to fix the tyres while it awaits
officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA to inspect the
aircraft before returning it to flight,” it said, adding “the Boeing
737-500 aircraft recently returned from a C-Check abroad.” Meanwhile,
the Jos airport has been shut down to flight operations, as no airline
went to the Plateau State capital yesterday.

A source at Aero
Contractors, who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the aircraft is yet
to be cleared from the runway due to the ongoing investigation into the
incident.

“We did not and will not fly to Jos today (Sunday) for the airstrip is currently closed,” the sources said.

Akin Olukunle,
general manager, public affairs for the Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) confirmed that the airport is currently closed to flight
operations, and to be reopened after the investigation is concluded.

“The shut down was due to the incident of Saturday. Normal
operations will start when complete research is carried out,” he said.