The management of the Akwa Ibom International Airport (AKIA) has assured air travelers that the crash landing of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft near the airport would not affect flight operations.
Seven NAF airplanes taking part in this year’s staff continuity training exercise and sports weeks departed the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar enroute to AKIA, but six of the aircraft landed safely while one of them with two pilots on board crash landed 1,100 metres from the runway with no damage to the airport facility.
In a statement by the managing director of the airport, Jari Williams, a copy of which was made available to Businessday, it added that the incident was offsite the airport ‘with no recorded damage to airport facilities.’ According to the statement, NCAA has given clearance for continuous flight operations into and out of the airport.
“The management of AKIA wishes to assure the flying public that AKIA is safe for flight operations in line with our current certification,’’ the statement said. The two pilots were reported to be hale and hearty and were under observation as a matter of procedure. Meanwhile, the wreckage of the crashed aircraft has been evacuated from the site of the incident by officials of the airport under the supervision of NAF officials.
The wreckage was conveyed in a truck to a section of the airport at about 8 a.m. as part of the investigation exercise being carried out by NAF investigation team. The AKIA was inaugurated in 2009 and has recorded huge patronage by travelers from Akwa Ibom and the neighbouring states.
Both the Akwa Ibom airport and the Margaret Ekpo international airport were jointly earmarked as the operation zone for the 2011 staff continuity training exercise and sports weeks of the NAF. The preliminary exercise began at the AKIA on Tuesday October 25 and has been very successful until the incident which occurred on Friday October 28.
http://www.businessdayonline.com
http://www.businessdayonline.com
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