December 25, 2021

A major Christmas eve tragedy was averted when a Kano-bound Max Air flight travelling from Abuja suddenly aborted the journey to Kano and made a return to Abuja airport.

A passenger in the aborted flight who commended the professionalism of the pilot said early trouble started at the Abuja airport tarmac when in-flight staff of the airline struggled to close the door of the aircraft shortly before take-off.

The passenger recalled that shortly after they managed to close the door, the aircraft took off from the Abuja airport but was struggling to gain altitude.

‘We noticed that the aircraft was struggling to gain altitude and there was a kind of drop in pressure which triggered a certain buzz that tingled our ears. There was mild panic inside the aircraft but the pilot tried to calm us down and announced that he was returning to Abuja.

“The pilot was brave and calm and was able to manoevre the aircraft to safe-land at Abuja airport. Our layman suspicion was that the door had issues and could not close properly hence left opening through which air permeated into the aircraft leading to loss of pressure,” the passenger recalled.

All the passengers were evacuated into another Max Air plane which ferried them to Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano where the landed by past 10 pm.

Recall that on Tuesday, May 18 this year, a Kano-Abuja Max Air plane developed engine failure10 minutes after taking off from the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), causing panic among passengers.

The Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado-Bayero, was among the passengers onboard the faulty plane.

The Max Air aircraft, marked VM1645, was scheduled to take off by 1.30 pm, but eventually took off at 2:00 pm, 30 minutes behind departure time.

However, 10 minutes after take-off, the aircraft reportedly began to swerve mid air until it made a detour for an emergency landing.