… Authority closes facility

From Suleiman Amagbor, Lagos

The Lagos airport witnessed another aircraft incident Saturday morning as a plane belonging to Xejet Airlines skidded off the domestic runway of the Murtala Muhammad Airport after landing from Abuja.

The incident according to the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) caused the Runway 18L to be shut to other aircraft by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The B5 aircraft with registration number 5NBZZ skidded off the runway into the grass by the runway at 11:29 am with 52 passengers and 3 crew members.

“Fire and Rescue on ground to help in evacuation of the passengers. At the moment Runway18L is closed to traffic, ” NSIB noted in a terse statement noting that a go-team had been deployed to the site of the incident.

A similar incident involving a Dana Airline’s McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft last month led to the grounding of the airline’s operation by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on the authority of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo.