A tragedy was averted in the early hours of Wednesday when a Delta Airline which took of from the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport developed an engine problem about one hour after take off.
The aircraft, an Airbus 330-200 with over 200 passengers onboard was heading to Atlanta, the United States when the crisis occurred.
To avoid any untoward experience, the pilot of the aircraft was said to have requested for an emergency landing even as he made an air return back to Lagos airport.
Following the request, the Aerodrome Fire and Rescue Safety Unit of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) were quickly mobilised to prepare for emergency landing. With sufficient mobilisation from the relevant safety emergency agencies, a section of the runway was closed for the aircraft to land.
As expected, flight operations were temporarily disrupted as a section of the runway was closed to traffic to enable the fire in the aircraft engine put out.
During the emergency evacuation, five passengers were said to have been injured.
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As at the time of filing this report, the affected Delta Airlines aircraft was still on the ground even though it has been towed from the runway to pave way for other aircraft that are either landing on taking off.
Swiftly, officials of Delta Airlines have confirmed that an Atlanta-bound flight from Lagos, Nigeria was forced to turn back Tuesday night after the plane experienced engine issues.
According to the airline, “Delta flight 55 from Lagos, Nigeria to Atlanta returned to Lagos International Airport Tuesday after an issue with one of the A330-200’s two engines.
“The flight landed safely and customers exited the aircraft on the runway via emergency slides. Airport fire authorities met the aircraft upon arrival. Delta’s customers were bussed back to the terminal.Delta is aware of five customers reporting non-critical injuries as a result of the evacuation.
“Delta teams have provided overnight hotel accommodations to customers and will rebook customers on an alternate Delta aircraft Wednesday afternoon. The safety of Delta’s customers and crew members is always our top priority.”