Aero Airline 'apologizes', Explains What Really Happened.

Aero Contractors has announced that it regrets the
trauma her passengers on a flight from Lagos to
Kaduna last Friday may have suffered after the
aircraft developed technical fault mid-air. Adding that
the situation was professionally handled by its pilots.
A statement by the airline stated that what happened
was that 25 minutes after the plane, which was
carrying about 120 passengers, took off from the
Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, the
aircraft got depressurized and because of that the
pilot had to descend to 10,000 feet .
The airline, however did not say the feet the plane
was before it descended to 10,000 feet. But that
since the airline has a maintenance facility in Abuja,
the pilot decided to fly the aircraft to Abuja
where it finally had an emergence landing. According
to Aero:
“Yesterday (Friday), Aero flight NG181 which
departed Lagos at 18:28 pm to Kaduna undertook an
emergency landing in Abuja following a
depressurization of the Boeing 737-500 aircraft.
About 25 minutes after take-off, the cabin got
depressurized and based on sound professional
training, the pilot descended to 10,000 feet above
sea level; the oxygen masks were automatically
released from overhead compartments.”
The airline added that on landing in Abuja, another
aircraft was brought in for the passengers to
continue their journey to Kaduna.
“Since we have a maintenance base in Abuja, our
technical crew diverted the flight and landed in
Abuja, while another aircraft was provided for the
onward journey of our esteemed passengers. This
second aircraft was used for the return journey to
Lagos from Kaduna,”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA) has demanded a mandatory occurrence
report from Aero Contractors Airline, following the
technical fault developed by one of its aircraft mid-air
on Friday.
The General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr Fan
Ndubuoke, disclosed this on Saturday in a telephone
interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Lagos. He noted that one of its directors was on the
said flight; adding that the whole report had been
exaggerated. He said:
“A lot of people said the engine caught fire, but there
is no way that an engine will catch fire mid-air and
everybody will be spared. There was nothing like fire
incident on the plane and Aero has issued a
statement that the airline lost pressure and was
diverted to land in Abuja. After landing, they brought
another aircraft to take the passengers to Kaduna
but some of them were afraid to continue with the
trip.”
Ndubuoke emphasised that the aircraft involved in
the incident would not fly until there was a complete
investigation and re-certification by the NCAA.
Mr Tunji Oketumbi, spokesperson of the Accident
Investigation Bureau (AIB) said the bureau would not
react to the issue since no accident occurred. He
noted that since it was a technical fault, the NCAA
was in a better position to ascertain what really
happened and how such incidents could be averted.