Commotion As Aero Contractor Plane With Faulty Gear Makes Emergency Landing In Sokoto

It has been reported that an Aero Contractors airline flight operated with Boeing 737/500 aircraft made an emergency landing in Sultan Abubakar III Airport in Sokoto due to a faulty landing gear on Wednesday.

 

According to SaharaReporters, the commercial aircraft which was en route to Abuja from Sokoto struggled to make a detour back to Sokoto airport some minutes after take off to the panic of the passengers and the crew.

 

It was gathered that the pilot announced that the landing gear could not return after series of noise from the engines and for safety reasons, a return would be made back to Sokoto at about 2.30pm.

 

It was learned that the aircraft finally touched the ground at about 2:45 pm, accompanied by 2 fire service vehicles and an ambulance at the Sultan Abubakar 111 Sokoto Airport.

 

Consequently, passengers were asked to disembark from the aircraft and wait at the departure lounge for further briefing.

 

A journalist who was on board said, “the pilot thereafter came to the departure lounge to announce that the engineering team advised him to run a check on the gear and that he did so, but the test failed, urging the passengers to make alternative flight arrangements”.

 

A staff of Aero contractor who spoke with Saharareporters on condition of anonymity confirmed that the incident happened on Wednesday but has no knowledge of what might have caused the need for emergency landing.

 

The passengers who lamented that alternative arrangement was not made for them, however, urged Nigerian aviation authorities to ensure all aircraft flying in the country’s space meet the required safety standards.

 

It will be recalled that the Nigerian Senate recently summoned the Minister of State for Transportation, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, to appear before it at plenary to give a full briefing on the steps being taken to minimize human errors and avoid preventable air crashes in the country.

 

Also summoned by the Senate were heads of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA; Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN; Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB, and every other relevant agency in the aviation industry.

 

The summon followed a motion on recent air mishaps in the aviation industry sponsored by Senator Olugbenga Ashafa.

 

The Senator had in the motion observed that on the 20th of February, a Dana Airlines with number 9J0363 overshot the runway upon landing at the Port Harcourt Airport, on a flight from Abuja.

 

He also noted that there was also panic on Wednesday, 7th of February, 2018, when the emergency door of an aircraft conveying passengers to Abuja fell off upon landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe, International Airport in Abuja among other similar incidents in the Nigerian aviation industry.

 

The Senate also urged the Minister to direct all relevant agencies to immediately conduct a maintenance and airworthiness audit on all commercial aircraft operating within the Nigerian airspace and train personnel operating within the industry.

 

The Federal Government had also ordered an audit of all aircraft in the fleet of Dana Air following a series of mishaps involving flight operated by the company.