HUNDREDS of passengers were stranded at the local terminal of Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State, on Wednesday, December 11, after an Allied Air cargo aircraft crash-landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja.
The accident at the Abuja Airport disrupted flights across the country.
The ICIR saw hundreds of passengers at the domestic wing of the Lagos Airport, with scores of them not having a seat.
Passengers whose flights were scheduled to take off at 10:30am remained at the airport until 3pm.
Pastry shops at the section of the airport were besieged by hungry passengers who devoured all items available for sale within two hours.
Some passengers were stranded at the airport for five hours as the airport became heavily crowded following the suspension of activities at the Abuja airport.
An official at the airport who pleaded anonymity blamed the challenges faced by passengers on the incident at the Abuja airport.
“You can see that the departure hall was not designed for the population of people you see here. That’s why they are standing and could not get a seat. We have been pleading with them,” the official said.
The ICIR observed that at least 80 per cent of the passengers were scheduled to fly on Air Peace.
Air Peace staff kept pleading with the passengers and served them refreshments but failed to explain the cause of the delay.
However, the airline deployed about six aircraft simultaneously to take passengers to different routes, including Kano, Abuja, Owerri, and other states at about 3:30 pm.
The Allied Air cargo aircraft with registration number 5N-JRT was said to be carrying six crew members when it crash-landed at about 10:05 a.m. on Wednesday, December 11 in Abuja.
It reportedly crash-landed due to the failure of one of its landing gears.
Reports indicate that the crew members were promptly evacuated and were taken to the 063 Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Hospital for medical assessment.
Emergency responders swiftly secure the crash site, cordoning off the area under the supervision of the Military Airport Commandant (MAC) and other relevant agencies.
Sources told The ICIR that the incident caused commotion at the airport for about two hours, as the incident led to the temporary closure of the airport’s runway.
The ICIR reported in May 2023 that a MAX Air aircraft crash-landed at the Abuja Airport after its tyre burst into flames.