Air Peace plane skids off runway, lands inside bush

On Saturday, An aircraft belonging to Air Peace overshot the runway and slid into the bush at the Port Harcourt international airport in Rivers state., TOPNAIJA.NG reports

A passenger on board was quoted to have said that the incident occurred around 4pm when the plane was about to land at the airport, despite the heavy rainfall.

The plane, which left Abuja for Port Harcourt, was said to have come to a halt inside the bush, some 200 meters close to the runway.

According to the witness, all the passengers were evacuated and driven to the arrival point. It is believed that no life was lost as the passengers were said to have left the airport at Omagwa to their various destinations.

This is not the first time an aircraft would overshoot the runway at the same airport.

In 2018, a Dana aircraft overshot the runway while landing at the state’s airport after moving past a specified point unintentionally.

The aircraft, which reportedly flew in from Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport, Abuja, ended up in the bush. Passengers were reportedly evacuated from the bush. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had said no one sustained injury in the incident.

“A Dana aircraft numbered 9J0363, flying from Abuja to Port Harcourt airport has overshot the Port Harcourt runway,” Henrietta Yakubu, spokeswoman of the agency, had said in a statement.

“The incident was suspected to have been caused by a heavy rain, which was accompanied by strong wind and storm in Port Harcourt.

“No casualty was recorded, as all passengers on board were safely evacuated.”

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the runway of Port Harcourt Airport, has been cleared by the authority for normal flight operations after an Air Peace aircraft overshot it and skidded into the bush.

In a statement on Saturday, FAAN spokesperson, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu said: “An Air Peace aircraft marked with registration number: 5N BRN, flying from Abuja to Port Harcourt today, skidded off the Port Harcourt International Airport runway at about 1500hours.

“There were no casualties however, as all 87 passengers and six crew members on board the flight were safely evacuated.

“The runway is already been cleared by the Authority so that normal flight operations can continue.”