Med-View Airlines in near-crash incident at Abuja airport

The pilot of a Med-View Airlines aircraft said on Monday that he aborted landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja to avoid a collision with another aircraft on the tarmac.

The airline Flight VL2104 took off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at noon and was scheduled to land in Abuja at about 1.05pm.

The pilot had already announced final descent into Abuja and asked the 150 passengers and cabin crew on board to fasten their seat belts but the pilot suddenly took off to the air again with barely 30 seconds to touch ground.

After about three minutes of gaining altitude, the pilot announced that he decided to take off again to avoid colliding with an aircraft that was on ground.

He said that after he had been granted clearance to land, it was later discovered that the other aircraft was not fast enough, hence his decision to take off.

The aircraft hovered for another 20 minutes in the air before finally landing at about 1.30pm.

While the drama lasted, the passengers were panic-stricken, especially when the plane entered into turbulent weather on air.

The incident came less than a month after an Embraer aircraft operated by Associated Airlines with registration number SCD 361, conveying the corpse of a former Governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu, from Lagos to Akure for burial, crashed on October 3 shortly after take-off at Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos.

Thirteen passengers in the crashed plane were killed, including a commissioner in Ondo State, Deji Falae. - Punch.