Dr. Joe Abah, former Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, has described how a ground engineer saved passengers on an Ibom Airlines flight from a “potential disaster”.
Abah recounted his incident on his X handle on Thursday, saying he boarded a 7 a.m. aircraft from Lagos to Abuja and was about to take off when something unexpected occurred.
The prominent public commentator claimed that he was on a trip to Abuja with BudgIT’s co-founder and Director, Oluseun Onigbinde, when they heard a loud knock on the aeroplane door.
He wrote, “I boarded a 7 am @ibomairlines flight in Lagos this morning, heading to Abuja. My brother @seunonigbinde was on the same flight and we had chatted briefly about work. The aircraft door was shut, phones switched off, and ready for takeoff.
“As we were about to start taxiing, there was a loud knock on the aircraft door from outside. We all wondered what it could be. The knocking got more persistent. The flight attendant had to open the door again.
“As she did, a ground engineer came in and those of us in front clearly heard him say “You can’t go. Your landing gear is bad.”
“The pilot made a ‘political’ announcement that they needed to perform some additional checks before take-off and apologised for the delay. He spoke with the engineer and, a few seconds later, announced that we were to disembark.
“I thank God that we have the systems in place to check this and avert potential disaster. And that we have some diligent Nigerians who take their work seriously.
“If you are that young Nigerian engineer, God will bless you abundantly.”
He also urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Agency to help him identify the engineer for him to personally thank their ‘saviour’.
Speaking with newsmen on Thursday morning, the Ibom Airlines spokesperson, Annie Essienette, confirmed the development.
She said, “It is a technical thing. We were about to take off and someone called that the gear was faulty. So, the next thing to do was to disembark the passengers.
“We are working on rescheduling the flight to accommodate the passengers so the faulty gear could be repaired accordingly and that is what we are doing.”
Newsclick Nigeria reports that the Federal Government on Wednesday suspended Dana Airline operations due to concerns surrounding safety.
This is coming after an aircraft belonging to the airline, with registration number 5N BKI, skidded off the runway at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Tuesday morning.
The aircraft, which flew from Abuja to Lagos, skidded off the runway in an attempt to land.
However, no casualty was recorded.
However, the Ministry of Aviation, through the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, suspended the airline’s operations in the country until a comprehensive audit is conducted.