Passenger's fire alarm aborts Abuja-Ibadan flight
A passenger on board an Overland flight from Abuja to Ibadan on Saturday forced the abortion of the flight when he raised a fire alarm just as the plane was about to take off.
Passengers on the plane, which was to take off from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja were swiftly evacuated, in response to the alarm. .
In reaction, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it ' regrets the ugly incident of fire smoke alarm raised by an onboard passenger in a flight involving Overland en route Ibadan from Abuja airport in the evening of Friday, 7th February, 2014.'
The statement, from the Office of the Director of Aerodrome and Air Space Standards( DASS), said, 'The air traffic incident at 16.27 UTC happened as the flight taxied to the holding position for take-off when a passenger on board raised an alarm that there was a fire smoke. The pilots were quick to respond to the situation as they opened the emergency exit and ensured that all passengers on board were evacuated. 'Though there was no smoke or fire detector to the pilot, the aircraft was immediately taxied to the international apron. The NCAA uses this medium to assure the traveling public that there is no cause for alarm as the situation is very much under control.'
Although by NCAA explanation no smoke was established to have come out of the aircraft, reports, quoting industry sources, indicate that the Overland aircraft, which was scheduled to depart the Abuja airport at 4pm was delayed by the engineers of the airline due to some technical problems.
Some passengers were said to have noticed that the engineers of the aircraft were battling to effect some repairs in the aircraft and at about 4:45pm when the aircraft was preparing to take off, a big smoke emanated from either the cockpit or the engine area of the aircraft.
This made the pilot to abort the flight while passengers scampered for safety.
The Accident investigation Bureau is believed to have started investigations into the incident.