50 passengers rescued as fire guts aircraft tyres in Port Harcourt

All passengers onboard an aircraft have been rescued after its tyres caught fire after a planned trip out of Rivers State was aborted.

The incident which involved an aircraft operated by Dana Airlines Limited occurred on Monday in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

A spokesman for the airline, Kingsley Ezenwa, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday said no life was lost and no passenger was injured.

He explained that the aircraft with registration number 5N JOY was set to take off from Port Harcourt to Lagos when the incident occurred.

Ezenwa stated that the pilot in command had noticed an anomaly before take-off which he queried with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) before embarking on a ramp return.

He said the impact on the brakes affected the aircraft tyres, causing them to spark off while the aircraft was taxiing to repark.

According to the airline official, all 50 passengers onboard disembarked safely while the aircraft was immediately grounded by the company’s maintenance team.

He apologised to the passengers on the flight for the inconveniences caused due to the eventual cancellation of the flight, adding that the incident was being investigated.

Read the full statement below:

Our aircraft with registration number 5N JOY operating flight 9J 344 from Port Harcourt to Lagos on the 2nd of May 2022 was set to take off when the pilot in command noticed an anomaly which he queried with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) before embarking on a ramp return in line with our strict safety operating procedures

However, the impact on the brakes as a result of the aborted takeoff affected the aircraft tyres which sparked off while the aircraft was taxiing to repark

All 50 passengers onboard the aircraft disembarked safely and our maintenance team immediately grounded the aircraft pending the conclusion of their investigations.

Once again, we sincerely apologize to all the passengers on the flight for the inconveniences caused due to the eventual cancellation of the flight.

At Dana Air, the safety of our passengers and crew will remain a top priority in all aspects of our operations and we will continue to operate in accordance with the civil aviation regulations and global best practices.

•Text, excluding headline: Channels TV.