Barely a month after the Associated Airlines plane crash, another air disaster was averted at the Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja on Monday as a Med-View Airlines aircraft from Lagos suddenly took to the air again at the point of landing in Abuja.
Reports say that the airline Flight VL2104 which had about 150 passengers on board took off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at noon and was scheduled to land in Abuja at about 1.05pm.
The pilot had already announced final descent into Abuja and asked all passengers and cabin crew to fasten their seat belts only for him to suddenly take off to the air again with barely 30 seconds to touch ground.
Definitely, his action caused big panic, commotion among the passengers who bursted into prayers, yells to know what was happening, especially when the plane entered into turbulent weather on air.
A PUNCH correspondent who was among the passengers while telling his story, said that among the passengers were five different complete families.
One of the passengers, a nursing mother, who was breastfeeding her son at the time the pilot took off again withdrew the breast from the boy’s mouth and started praying profusely while the baby’s cry rented the air.
It wasn't until after about three minutes of gaining altitude, the pilot announced that he had decided to take off again to avoid colliding with an aircraft that was on ground.
According to the pilot, after he had been granted clearance to land, it was later discovered that the other aircraft was not fast enough, hence his decision to take off.
The aircraft hovered for another 20 minutes in the air before finally landing at about 1:30pm. When the plane finally landed, the passengers struggled to disembark.
“Are you still sitting down? Let me rush down in case it will suddenly take off again,” a middle-aged man was heard asking one of his co-passengers.
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