The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu yesterday escaped death with five other passengers when the landing gear of the aircraft that took them from Makurdi to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport , Abuja developed technical fault and therefore could not pull out for landing.


The chartered private jet, a Challenger 602, belonging to Prime Air with registration number, D-CGED arrived the Abuja airport airspace and tried to land but the landing gear could not respond to the pilot’s command, so the pilot declared for emergency landing and the airport was temporarily closed.


The aircraft was said to have hovered for about one and half hours as the pilot tried to see whether the landing gear could pull out for landing.
With effective coordination alongside the Air Traffic Controllers at the airport, the pilot decided to crashland the aircraft as a last resort. However, after several trials, the landing gear eventually was able to pull out and the aircraft landed at 19.24 hours (7.24 pm Nigerian time).
According to the airport manager, Chris Bature, who confirmed the incident, there was an emergency but the aircraft landed safely.
“There was emergency but the aircraft landed safely. The controllers were in touch with the aircraft,” Bature told THISDAY.
A source from the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) told THISDAY that the aircraft was a chartered business jet. He said when the pilot perceived that he might likely have a technical problem he called the air traffic control tower to alert the controllers and declared for emergency landing as the front landing gear did not come out in time.


“The landing gear was supposed to come out as the aircraft makes final approach to land but this did not happen so he called the tower to alert the controllers,” the source said.
THISDAY also learnt that after the landing of the aircraft, airport operations section of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) sought permission and the runway was temporarily closed for traffic so that the runway would be cleared for any possible debris from the aircraft.


“It was after the cleaning of the runway that aircraft were allowed to start landing again,” the source said.
Also confirming the incident, Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, told THISDAY that the officials from the Authority were already inspecting the aircraft to see the level of damage.
He said the aircraft engineers would be invited to examine it before it would be allowed to fly out of the airport.
“Yes, there was an emergency landing of a chartered aircraft at the Abuja airport. Our people are already there to examine the extent of damage. They will bring their engineers to examine the aircraft before it will be ferried away. That is what is required,” Demuren said.


In another development, the Director-General of NCAA, has notified prospective Nigerian travellers to Europe or other international destinations that European aviation authorities have been forced to close their airspace until the volcanic ash that erupted from the Volcano in Iceland and spread all over European airspace, has been dissipated and flight safety could be assured.
Demuren therefore advised intending passengers to liaise with their airlines to confirm the status of their flights and any special arrangements that have been made for passengers whose journeys have been disrupted.


“With the large numbers of stranded passengers, airport departure halls are crowded and hotel rooms are scarce. It is therefore advisable for passengers to remain at home until they can confirm their departure details with their airlines,” Demuren warned.