There was confusion among air passengers on Sunday when an Abuja-bound aircraft belonging to United Nigeria Airlines Limited surprisingly landed at Asaba International Airport in Delta State, South-south Nigeria.
The 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in Kano State, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, who was a passenger in the aircraft, narrated how the incident happened in a post on his X handle.
“We departed Lagos about an hour ago on @flyunitedng to Abuja, and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we’ve arrived Abuja, only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba,” Mr Tanko-Yakasai wrote at about 4:22 p.m. on Sunday.
The PRP candidate uploaded a photograph of the passengers inside the aircraft.
Another X user, Augustine Macky, who also boarded the aircraft, uploaded a video clip which showed some passengers of the aircraft complaining bitterly about the error.
Mr Macky said he and other passengers in the aircraft were terrified by the incident.
Mr Tanko-Yakasai, in another post a few minutes later, announced that they had departed Asaba for Lagos.
“I pray we don’t land in Osogbo next!” he joked.
‘Temporary diversion’
The United Nigeria Airline has confirmed the incident.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the airline’s spokesperson, Uchegbu Achilleus-Chud, explained that the affected aircraft, NUA 0504, was “temporarily diverted to Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather.”
Mr Achilleus-Chud said “a wrong announcement” by the cabin crew upon landing at Asaba was what created the confusion among passengers.
“At all material time, the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed,” he said.
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The spokesperson announced that the aircraft has now “landed safely in Abuja following improvement on destination weather.”
He maintained that the airline was committed to ensuring the safety of their passengers at all times.
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