Dana crash-landing: FAAN closes Port Harcourt international airport

Following last Tuesday night crash-landing of a Dana aircraft at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, the airport has been closed to forestal further accident.

A statement from the airport official twitter account confirmed the closure and advised air travelers to check with their airlines on the latest development on the situation.

It was gathered, as at press time that the closure of the airport forced many airlines to cancel their flights while others were diverted to a nearby airport.

An international airline, Air France, which was already in the air to Port Harcourt to drop off passengers from Paris when it received information about the closure of the airport and was forced to divert.

The Air France plane was said to be unable to pick up the anxious passengers who were waiting at the airport.

The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said no casualty was recorded in the Dana Air incident and that all passengers on board were safely evacuated.

FAAN General Manager, Port Harcourt, Mrs Henrieta Yakubu, made this known in a statement.

On Tuesday night, forty four passengers and crew of a Dana Airline travelling from Abuja to Port Harcourt escaped death after their plane skided off the runway at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

The airline blamed the incident on whether and severe winds when the pilot tried to land. In series of tweets, the airline comnended the pilot who, it said, was able to navigate the aircraft through the diffuculties thus bringing the passengers and crew to safety.
It also thanked the emergency services for their prompt rescue of all passengers.

This accident is coming a few weeks after Dana airline exit door fell off on February 7, 2018, upon landing in Abuja airport raising concerns of aviation safety.

Also in 2012, 153 passengers of Dana aircraft from Abuja to Lagos were killed when their plane crashed in Lagos. Poor emergency services were also a factor for the huge casualty aside from the mechanical fault of the aircraft.