BREAKING: 67 Passengers, Flight Crew Survive as Aircraft Skids off Runway in Port Harcourt
- An aircraft belonging to Nigerian airline, ValueJet, has skidded off the runway at the Port Harcourt Airport in Rivers state
- Legit.ng gathered that the airplane veered off its appropriate lane around 3:30 pm on Tuesday, November 14
- The Port Harcourt incident happened just two days after a similar occurrence at the Abuja airport
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9-year-experience covering public journalism
Port Harcourt, Rivers state - A ValueJet CRJ 900 Bombardier aircraft slipped off the runway at Port-Harcourt International Airport on Tuesday, November 14.
Legit.ng understands that the incident caused momentary panic among passengers.
Source: Twitter
ValueJet: passengers, flight crews cling to life
The aircraft which landed at 3.32 pm with 62 passengers and five flight crew members overshot the runway.
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However, despite the scary occurrence, the aircraft with registration 5N-BXR landed safely.
Vanguard reported that the incident did not result in any damage to the aircraft.
The managing director (MD) of ValueJet Airline, Captain Dapo Majekodunmi explained that Captain Stanley Balami reported the slip was a result of algae on the way. The algae prevented the aircraft from maintaining the centerline.
Capt. Majekodunmi stated that the airline’s operations remain normal without any disruptions.
Leadership newspaper shared a statement from ValueJet's management.
It reads:
“The CRJ 900 Bombardier aircraft with registration 5N-BXR landed safely with passengers wondering what could have happened because the airplane landed safely without difficulty.
"The minor incident happened at about 3.30 pm at the Port-Harcourt International Airport.
“Captain Stanley Balami reported that the aircraft encountered a slip due to algae on the taxi-way which made it unable to maintain the centre line.
"ValueJet remains a safe airline and all the airline’s operations are normal without glitch."
Aircraft overshoots runway in Abuja
On Sunday, November 12, Legit.ng reported that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja was temporarily closed due to a runway incident involving an Aero Contractors aircraft.
The Aero Contractors flight from Lagos to Abuja landed safely but faced issues as its nose wheel stuck while taxing on Runway A4.
Reacting, Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, said the federal government has initiated the construction of a second runway at the airport.
Source: Legit.ng
