An Arik Air aircraft suffered a major setback mid-flight on Friday, as one of the airline’s engines shutdown during a flight between Lagos and Jos.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 with the registration number 5N-MJD which had over 100 passengers on board, reportedly lost one of its engines during the flight after the aircraft departed from the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos for Jos.
The pilot was reported to have discovered the technical fault during flight.
According to Sahara Reporters the pilot of the aircraft, which had already traveled 60 miles away from the Lagos airport, upon discovering the fault contacted the Lagos control tower which granted him emergency landing status.
The aircraft, which then returned to the Lagos airport, was reported to have lost the capacity to taxi out of the runway as it took the intervention of the Airport Rescue and Fire-Fighting Services, (ARFFS) to tow the aircraft to the hajj and cargo terminal area.
Speaking on the averted plane crash, a source in the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) said:
“The incident occurred at noon on Friday. The aircraft had departed Lagos for Jos, but barely a few minutes into the journey, the pilot radioed the Lagos control tower that it needed to return to base.
“When the control tower heard this, they approved the pilot for emergency landing, which he did successfully. The aircraft had to be towed out of the runway by the ARFFS because it could not move again.”
The source further revealed that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) was yet to report the incident to the bureau for further investigation.
“As an investigator, I can tell you that I am not aware of this development. AIB should be the one to decide any occurrence if it feels that the industry can gain any safety value from it.
“There had been complaints that the NCAA does not notify us at times when there is an incident. It is by law that we should be notified in case of any incident. The AIB Commissioner is empowered by law to investigate any occurrence in the sector.”
