The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has disclosed that the private jet which landed on a road under construction near the Asaba Airport in Delta State mistakenly identified the surface as the runway after aborting its initial landing attempt.
The Bureau made the revelation in a preliminary report released on Friday on the June 10 incident involving a Bombardier Challenger 601-3A aircraft, registration number N989BC, operated by VMO Aero Limited.
According to the NSIB, the aircraft was flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, to Asaba Airport when the incident occurred.
The report stated that the flight crew discontinued their first approach into Asaba Airport before repositioning for a second approach to Runway 11, believing they were correctly aligned with the published Required Navigation Performance (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.
However, instead of touching down on the airport runway, the aircraft landed on a paved road under construction located close to the airport.
The NSIB said there were seven occupants on board the aircraft, comprising four crew members and three passengers, adding that no injuries were recorded during the incident.
According to the Bureau, the aircraft was shut down and inspected after coming to a stop, while the passengers disembarked safely.
The report further disclosed that the aircraft later departed from the construction road and returned to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos without further operational issues.
“A post-flight examination identified damage to the left nose-wheel assembly,” the NSIB said.
The Bureau noted that its 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.
It added that the recorders were retrieved and downloaded at the Bureau’s Transport Safety Laboratory in Abuja, while technical examinations and further analysis are ongoing.
The latest findings align with earlier comments by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who dismissed speculation that the aircraft suffered a mechanical fault.
Keyamo had said the aircraft received clearance to land at Asaba Airport before air traffic controllers lost visual contact with it.
According to the minister, the pilots later informed the control tower that they had landed on what they believed was the runway, only for it to emerge that the surface was a nearby construction road.
He also disclosed that the incident had attracted the attention of security agencies, describing it as a matter with national security implications.
The NSIB stressed that investigations into the occurrence are continuing and emphasised that the preliminary report is intended only to present the facts established so far without assigning responsibility or determining the probable cause of the incident.
(The Whistler)
