By Adetutu Audu
No fewer than 68 passengers and crew members escaped death as an Enugu Airlines plane crash-landed at the Benin Airport on Thursday.
Thegazellenews.com gathered that the aircraft with registration number 5N-ENR had 68 passengers on board apart from the crew members.
A source at the Benin Airport who pleaded anonymity said that the aircraft was on an Enugu-Benin-Lagos commercial flight when the incident happened.
The source further volunteered that the aircraft overshot the runway and entered the nearby bush.
“The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAN) immediately swung into action, and all the passengers were evacuated. No casualty was recorded,” the source disclosed.
The source could not disclose the actual number of crew members aboard the aircraft at the time of the incident
The incident initially sparked concerns of a possible crash, but the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) clarified that the aircraft landed safely before veering off the runway due to the adverse weather conditions.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, dismissed reports suggesting that the aircraft had crashed.
According to him, the incident was not a crash but a runway excursion caused by the heavy rainfall.
“The aircraft landed safely but skidded off the runway due to the adverse weather conditions,” Achimugu said.
No casualties or injuries were reported, and all passengers and crew members were said to be safe.
A video obtained by SaharaReporters shows passengers making their way out of the aircraft after it skidded into a swampy area.
Efforts to obtain comments from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were unsuccessful. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Oluwaseun Kuku, did not respond to calls to her mobile phone as of the time of filing this report.
The circumstances surrounding the incident were not immediately clear, while aviation authorities are expected to provide further details.
