Dana Air confirms 50 passengers rescued after moving aircraft tyres caught fire in Port Harcourt

No fewer than 50 passengers who were onboard a Dana Airline Limited aircraft were rescued after its tyres caught fire after a planned trip out of Rivers State was aborted.

The incident which was confirmed by the Dana Air Spokesman, Kingsley Ezenwa, in a statement on Tuesday, occurred at Port Harcourt airport with no life lost or passenger injured. Ezenwa explained that the aircraft with registration number 5N JOY was set to take off from Port Harcourt to Lagos when the incident occurred.

He stated that the pilot in command had noticed an anomaly before take-off which he queried with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) before embarking on a ramp return, adding that the impact on the brakes affected the aircraft tyres, causing them to spark off while the aircraft was taxiing to repack.

What the Dana Air spokesman is saying

Ezenwa noted that all the passengers onboard the flight disembarked safely while the aircraft was immediately grounded by the company’s maintenance team.

He apologised to the passengers on the flight for the inconveniences caused due to the eventual cancellation of the flight, adding that the incident was being investigated.

The statement reads,

‘’Our aircraft with registration number 5N JOY operating flight 9J 344 from Port Harcourt to Lagos on the 2nd of May 2022 was set to take off when the pilot in command noticed an anomaly which he queried with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) before embarking on a ramp return in line with our strict safety operating procedures.
‘’However, the impact on the brakes as a result of the aborted take-off affected the aircraft tyres which sparked off while the aircraft was taxiing to repack.
‘’All 50 passengers onboard the aircraft disembarked safely and our maintenance team immediately grounded the aircraft pending the conclusion of their investigations.
‘’Once again, we sincerely apologize to all the passengers on the flight for the inconveniences caused due to the eventual cancellation of the flight.
‘’At Dana Air, the safety of our passengers and crew will remain a top priority in all aspects of our operations and we will continue to operate in accordance with the civil aviation regulations and global best practices.’’

What you should know

The aviation sector has in recent times experienced some cases of near air mishap which sometimes calls to question the safe operations of the airlines.
Recall that sometime in November 2021, a Lagos-Johannesburg Air Peace flight was reported to have crash-landed due to a sudden crosswind.
Also, earlier in June 2021, in an incident involving Air Peace airline, its aircraft was reported to have been faced with a near-crash situation when its tyre was reported to have blown out after landing at the Ilorin Airport in Kwara State.
Also on June 4, 2021, a United Nigeria Airline aircraft that plies the Port Harcourt/Abuja route allegedly experienced a near-crash incident due to bad weather.