SCORES of passengers, including some highly-placed Nigerians, narrowly escaped death, over the weekend, in Ilorin, Kwara State, following an aircraft which crashed landed in the area.
The incident which affected an aircraft belonging to Air Peace, was said to have hit the runway of the Ilorin International Airport at about 9.30am on Friday but was kept secret till the following day.
It was said to have taken off from Abuja before it crashed landed in Ilorin.
Following the incident, all flights to Ilorin have been cancelled until evacuation of the plane.
The airline began operation from Ilorin Airport on June 16.
Eye witnesses’ account said there was a lod bang, which affected the cabin with luggage falling on passengers such that the runway of the airport had been closed to traffic.
However, the affected passengers were successfully evacuated from the runway while efforts were being made to relocate the plane from the runway.I
It was learnt that the process of moving the plane from the runway was slow due to its size.
A source which pleaded anonymity said, “it is a bigger aircraft and we have no equipment.
“We are in the process of removing it as we have been on it for 24 hours,” the source added.
But the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other agencies have kept mum over the incident.
“We were directed to manage the situation,” the source said.
However, the authorities of Airpeace in a statement, said the aircraft did not crash land but suffered tyre bursts.
