The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has revealed that the private jet which mistakenly landed on a road under construction near Asaba Airport in Delta State had discontinued its initial landing attempt before making a second approach that ended with the aircraft touching down on the wrong surface.
The Bureau made the disclosure in a preliminary report released on Friday on the June 10 incident involving a Bombardier Challenger 601-3A aircraft, with registration number N989BC, operated by VMO Aero Limited.
The aircraft was flying under Instrument Flight Rules from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, to Asaba Airport when the incident occurred.
According to the report, the crew abandoned their first approach into Asaba Airport, repositioned the aircraft for another approach to Runway 11 and believed they were correctly aligned with the published RNAV approach procedure.
“The flight crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation indications displayed the aircraft as established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach,” the report stated.
Despite this, the aircraft landed on a paved road under construction close to the airport instead of the designated runway.
The Bureau said the aircraft had seven occupants on board, comprising four crew members and three passengers, adding that no injuries were recorded.
The report stated that after the aircraft came to a stop, it was shut down and inspected before the passengers disembarked safely.
“The aircraft subsequently departed from the roadway and returned to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, without further reported operational abnormalities. A post-flight examination identified damage to the left nose-wheel assembly,” the report said.
The NSIB explained that the preliminary findings were based on information obtained from the flight crew, witnesses, air traffic control records, operational documents, examination of the aircraft, and data extracted from the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Flight Data Recorder.
“The recorders were retrieved and downloaded at the Bureau’s Transport Safety Laboratory in Abuja. Technical examinations and further analysis remain ongoing,” the report added.
The latest findings come weeks after the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, dismissed speculation that the aircraft suffered a mechanical fault.
Speaking on Politics Tonight, a TVC programme, Keyamo said the aircraft had received clearance to land at Asaba Airport before controllers lost visual contact with it.
He stated, “The tower in Asaba cleared them to land. After about two minutes, the tower called and said, ‘Where is your location? I can’t see you again. I can’t see you on the tarmac.’
“But they (the pilots) said they had landed, so the tower asked, ‘Landed where?’ I can see the whole of the runway and aprons, but you are not there.
“So, they said they landed on a roadway that they saw. It happened that it was a construction site very close to the airport. They saw a beautiful road there that looked like a runway and landed there.
“Before they (relevant agency) could go there and ask questions, they (pilots) took off to Lagos after dropping their passengers. There was no mechanical failure, and that was why they could take off again. However, those facts are before the Department of State Service, DSS. It has gone beyond aviation; it is now a security concern. Security agencies are looking into that, and there are reports they will first send it to Mr President because it is a matter of national security.”
The NSIB noted that investigations into the occurrence are still in progress and that the preliminary report is intended to present the facts gathered so far without assigning responsibility or determining the probable cause of the incident.
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