There was drama Friday evening as
an Arik Air flight traveling from Lagos to Asaba, Delta State, was forced to
return mid-air as it approached Asaba Airport.
The incident happened around
6.15p.m.
Flight W3 628 had to return to
the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, after airport officials told
the pilot the facility was “closed for the day”.
Arik spokesperson, Olabanji Ola,
confirmed the incident to Premium Times.
“When the pilot approached the
Asaba Airport, the control tower told him it would be too late for the aircraft
to take off again if it lands in the airport.
“The airport is for daylight
operation because it does not have traffic lighting. So, there’s a particular
time if the pilot enters the airport the plane would not be able to take off
again because of sunset”.
He noted that the airline was
aware of the limitation at the Asaba airport, but that “the normal time the
airport is supposed to close which the airport gave us is 6.30 p.m.”
Ola, however, said that the
airline was not liable for any damage the passengers may have suffered because
of the incident.
“What has happened is a force
majeure, the airline is not liable. In this circumstances, what we did was to
reschedule the flight for next day.
“It is not as if we have canceled
the flight. Any passenger that is not ready to be on the flight again, we will
refund the fare”.
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