By CrossRiverWatch Admin
The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA Abuja has been reopened to air traffic after a Boeing 737 – 300 aircraft belonging to the Cross River State Government and operated by Aero Contractors skidded off the runway on Sunday afternoon.
As of press time, FlightRadar24 showed that a RwandAir Boeing 737 – 800 departed the airport after a United Nigeria Airbus A320 operated by Fly2Sky had left with several aircraft that had entered holding patterns on final approach to the airport.
The incident aircraft, a Boeing 737-36Q (WL) with Registration Number: 5N – BYQ and Serial number: 30334/3120 operating Flight N2119 from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos to NAIA.
The aircraft departed MMIA LOS at 09:28 Hours for the hour-long flight. And, a passenger who did not want to be named told CrossRiverWatch that they hovered, “for a while” and eventually had a “rough” touchdown at about noon.
“We landed in a very rough manner, we didn’t even taxi for up to a minute before entering the grass. The smell of burning rubber filled the craft,” the passenger said.
According to the passenger, they were informed that there was a problem with the nose wheel and passengers began calling it “nose ring” inside the aircraft.
The aircraft was met with Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting Service equipment and personnel, even though they were not evacuated immediately.
“Passengers started shouting, asking to be evacuated from the aircraft. After a while, they brought the stairs to the rear of the aircraft, and we got out with the Airport staff preventing people from filming with their phones,” the passenger said.
After a while, their luggage was brought to them while the aircraft was towed to the apron at the airport while others began boarding their aircraft to depart.
The Aircraft And Aero Cally
The aircraft is one of two Boeing 737 classics procured by the Cross River State Government to float its own airline, Cally Air a startup, registered as a full-service carrier with its main hub at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in the Cross River State capital, Calabar.
The company was, at inception, a proposed Nigerian joint venture between the Cross River State Government and DANA Group, under a public-private agreement.
But, when the aircraft (5N-BYQ) departed Ostrava Mosnov, Czechia Airport For MMIA Lagos in April 2021, it was an Aero Contractor pilot who joined the ferry flight. Days later, it was hosed down at MMIA and Aero Contractors added it to its fleet of aircraft, with the “Air” in its livery painted by Magnetic MRO missing.
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