Air France plane makes emergency landing at Lagos airport, Nigeria

An Air France flight Sunday made an emergency landing at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The plane, which landed at 4:59 pm local time, was said to have developed low tyre pressure midway into its journey to Lagos from Paris.

Although the flight’s origin was not ascertained, it was learnt that its fear-griped passengers quickly disembarked the aircraft after it touched down this was after after hovering for over an hour.

Rescue agencies, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), fire service and the Nigerian Air Force and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) placed their men on standby at the tarmac.

NEMA’s Southwest spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said there were neither casualties nor injuries.

He said the problem was adequately handled and the 178 passengers moved to safety.

A statement by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesman, Fan Ndubuoke, quoted the airline’s captain as saying he noticed that the left hand nose tyre pressure indicator was on. This indicated faulty nose wheels.

Observing the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs), which is a corollary to safe operation, the pilot declared an emergency.

Ndubuoke said the aircraft landed safely. The statement added that the captain of the flight later explained to the NCAA that the nose tyre pressure indicator was faulty, hence the wrong signal. The tyre pressure was later discovered to be in perfect condition.

The NCAA directed the pilot to submit the Mandatory Occurrence Report.