No fewer than 37 persons, including four-member flight crew of Overland Airways, survived, as the company’s aircraft with registration number 5N-BRQ engine caught fire mid-air.
Passengers who were on a trip from Ilorin to Lagos on Wednesday confirmed that one of the two engines of the aircraft caught fire before it landed at the international runway (R18R) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Reacting to the incident, the management of the airline said, “Overland Airways wishes to inform the general public that its flight OF1188 from Ilorin to Lagos experienced an unusual high turbine temperature on one of its engines today, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
“This occurred in the approach phase of flight and the aircraft landed very safely as the Crew skillfully implemented their standard procedures for such abnormal situations.
“All 33 passengers remained calm through the process and safely disembarked row by row after the aircraft came to a halt on the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos runway 18 Right. No passenger was hurt in any way,” the statement issued by the management of the airline stated.
It also commended the prompt response of aviation agencies when they were apprised of the incident.
“Overland Airways salutes the professional interventions of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N) which were very prompt and reassuring.