Some Lagos bound
foreign flights were on Wednesday diverted to Ghana Airport due to weather
condition and poor instrument landing systems (ILS) at Murtala Mohammed
International Airport (MMIA).
Affected flights
included British Airways (BA) from London, Delta Airlines from the USA and
Emirates Airline from Dubai.
One of the
passengers in the BA aircraft, Mr. Olayiwola Zaid, told PRNigeria that the
reason their flight was diverted to Ghana was two-pronged.
He pointed out that
while some airlines touched down at Lagos airport successfully, their Boeing
747-400 aircraft from London could not land at MMIA, owing to the size of the
aircraft and absence of good lighting equipment.
Zaid, a UK-based business
intelligence analyst, however, said all of them (the passengers) onboard the
BA075 flight were calm amid the frightening incident.
He recalled that
they all maintained order and refused to quarrel or challenge the aircraft’s
crew when their flight was diverted to Accra.
Another passenger.
Dr. Tayo Olusola, attributed their flight diversion to bad weather.
He said: “It is not
only British Airways that is affected but the Delta Airline, as well as Emirate
Airline, were also diverted to Ghana.
“In our own case, we
departed London Heathrow Airport at about 9:50am (UK time) and expected to land
at Lagos Airport by 5:25pm (local time) when we were diverted.”
He, however,
lamented why an international airport like MMIA will lack necessary navigation
facilities and clearance equipment for aircraft.
Olusola, a
scientist, said: “It was not only our British Airways plane that was diverted
but included Delta and Emirate airlines.
“So, it’s not about
the issue of the size of the plane. But it has to do with the ‘dysfunctional’
state of some modern landing facilities and equipment at the Lagos Airport.
“It beats my
imagination that a Nigerian airport cannot clear aircraft to land just because
of harmattan, whereas countries with hazardous weather conditions like snow
still clear aircraft for landing at their airports.
“This shows how
corruption has eaten deep into various sectors of our economy, and also stunted
even the development of critical facilities at our ‘acclaimed’ international
airports.”
Mrs. Henrietta
Yakubu, the spokesperson for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),
explained that the flights were not diverted due to lack of navigation and
landing equipment at MMIA, but poor weather condition in Lagos.
The BA075 crew and
that of other airlines while regretting the ugly incident, promised to convey
the passengers safely to Nigeria on Wednesday.
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