What could have been a major disaster was averted yesterday evening as over 120 passengers escaped death after an Aero Contractors aircraft which they were travelling with developed technical fault mid-air.
Flight 18o was on a journey from Lagos to Kaduna and had on board, the Director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq Akintola.
Akintola told News Mail that the aircraft suddenly lost altitude, 20 minutes after it left Lagos around 6:30pm, which made the plane to wobble in the air for over one hour before it was eventually diverted to Abuja.
Passengers had to make use of oxygen masks as the plane continued to wobble, while dropping steadily. He commended the airline’s crew for their professionalism and unusual calmness.
Akintola said, “The plane lost altitude 20 minutes after takeoff. We had to make use of the oxygen masks. We saw smoke outside the plane, probably coming from the engine compartment.
“At this time, the whole plane was thrown into commotion. Many passengers screamed and some fainted. Prayers upon prayers were offered. Some shouted Allah, others Jesus.”
He said, “While the pilot was making the announcement of the flight diversion, I noticed that his voice was trembling. He told us that Abuja was 120 miles away and that we would land in 25 minutes. But we were not sure we would make it.
“In fact, I quickly recited the Kalimah (the Quranic invocation of the oneness of Allah), believing that the end had come,” Akintola added.
He said that the plane finally landed at Abuja around 9.00pm and the officials of the airline told the passengers that the fault would be fixed and the plane would continue its journey to Abuja.
Be he said he was already in a taxi from Abuja to Kaduna as he could not risk being “flown in the same aircraft that was divinely saved from crashing.”
Akintola said, “As I am talking to you, I am now in a taxi taking me to Kaduna. They said they wanted to repair the plane and that we should wait so it takes us to Kaduna. Allah forbids. They asked how many of us wanted to disembark and almost everybody came out.”
When Punch Newspaper called Akintola at about 11pm, he confirmed the incident and said he was approaching Kaduna.
He said, “When the aircraft wanted to land in Abuja, the tyres failed to come out on time and that again caused more commotion among passengers. At last, we landed at about 7.35, about 50 minute of trauma mid-air.”
A statement by the airline read, “Aero confirms that there was depressurisation in the aircraft cabin leading to the dropping of oxygen mask. And since Aero has a maintenance facility in Abuja, the flight to Kaduna was diverted to Abuja this evening to fix the problem”.
