The plane was to fly from Abuja to London on Monday morning.
Passengers aboard a British Airways, BA, Abuja to London flight, Monday, were asked to disembark from the plane, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
Sources say one of the engines of the plane developed a fault just before takeoff from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“BA has discovered it’s something they have to work on, so they asked everybody to disembark,” Yakubu Datti, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, told PREMIUM TIMES.
The plane is scheduled to depart Abuja by 8.14 a.m. and arrive London 2.26 p.m.
When contacted, Joyce Nkemakolam, Acting Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said that “it is not something that is news.”
“If an aircraft develops problem, there is a routine procedure that is carried out,” Mr. Nkemakolam said.
However, BA is yet to issue an official statement on the development.
Two years ago, a Boeing 747 BA flight from Lagos made an emergency landing in Algiers after experiencing engine problems in mid flight.
The airline, while apologizing to the passengers, attributed it to a “minor technical fault.”
“We are sending a replacement out as quickly as possible to bring all the customers on the flight to London,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Last June, a BA flight from London overshot a dark runway as it taxied at Abuja airport suffering a power outage.
Aviation officials blamed the incident on the ongoing construction works at the airport.
No injuries were sustained.
Source: 9jacommunity
