Arik Air Scare: Engine Failure Forces Mid-Flight Diversion to Benin

An Arik Air Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 80 passengers was forced to make an emergency diversion to Benin Airport on Wednesday after the flight crew reported a loud bang and abnormal engine indications during the journey from Lagos to Port Harcourt, prompting aviation safety authorities to open an investigation into the incident.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-700 with registration 5N-MJF, was en route to Port Harcourt when the crew detected irregular parameters on one of the engines during the cruise phase of the flight. In line with standard aviation safety procedures, the pilots carried out a precautionary shutdown of the affected engine and diverted to the nearest suitable airport.

The aircraft landed safely at Benin Airport without further incident, and passengers and crew disembarked normally. No injuries were reported.

Arik Air, in a statement signed by its Public Relations and Communications Manager, Adebanji Ola, apologised to passengers for the disruption, reiterating the airline’s commitment to maintaining high safety standards. The carrier said an alternative aircraft had been arranged to convey the affected passengers to Port Harcourt to complete their journey.

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Preliminary observations at the diversion airport indicated visible damage to the affected engine based on an initial visual assessment, raising questions about the nature and cause of the anomaly.

The Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) confirmed that it has commenced a formal investigation into the occurrence. In a statement by the Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Mrs Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, the bureau said it was working in collaboration with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Arik Air and other stakeholders to establish the sequence of events and identify any contributing factors.

According to the NSIB, a preliminary assessment team was deployed to Benin to secure the aircraft, document evidence, interview relevant personnel and witnesses, and recover data from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

The bureau said a preliminary report would be issued within 30 days in line with ICAO Annexe 13 provisions, while a final report would follow at the conclusion of the investigation. It added that the safety of passengers, crew and the public remains its highest priority and encouraged anyone with relevant information to come forward through official channels.

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The incident has drawn attention to operational reliability in the domestic aviation sector, even as industry operators continue to stress that precautionary diversions and in-flight shutdowns, when handled according to procedure, are evidence of safety systems working as designed rather than failures of oversight.

For Arik Air, the occurrence revives memories of past technical incidents, including a 2018 episode in Benin involving a take-off abort linked to a mechanical issue. However, aviation experts note that the current focus will be on technical analysis of the engine damage, maintenance history, and flight data to determine whether the event was caused by component failure, foreign object damage, or other operational factors.

Regulators are expected to closely monitor the investigation’s outcome, as its findings could influence maintenance directives, inspection protocols and broader safety oversight within Nigeria’s aviation industry.