How Over 500 Passengers Escaped Death Aboard Kabo Intl Flight

Barely 36 hours after a plane crashed in Lagos, killing 13 persons, tragedy was averted, on Friday night, in Sokoto, after an aircraft with 494 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and 18 crew members on board, lost two tyres while landing.

The technical crew of Kabo Air plane saved the day as it confronted the emergency and taxied to a halt.
The flight, which originated from Kano, was said to be at the Abubakar Sadiq III International Airport, Sokoto, to pick some high profile passengers before heading to Saudi Arabia.

The Sokoto incident was said to have thrown the plane passengers, airport workers and security agents into panic.
One source said the tyres were hit by a sharp object on the runway as the plane touched down.

The Kabo plane was immediately ground at the airport by regulatory agencies pending investigation and determination of what caused the tyre blowout.

Meanwhile, the management of Kabo Air, yesterday, dismissed the claim that “its aircraft made an emergency landing in Kano”, adding that “what happened was that our aircraft lost its two rear tyres while landing in Sokoto”.

The Corporate Affair Manager , Kabo Air, Aminu Hamza, who described as “laughable an online report that depicts an air mishap, said: “How can an aircraft that was airborne lose its tyres?” According to him, it was a ridiculous and mischievous news peddled by unpatriotic elements to paint the aviation industry blac.

Narrating the incident, Hamza said, “About 494 passengers were on board during the incident, and it was a tripartite journey that took off from Kano en-route Sokoto to Jeddah. We are happy to announce that none of them was injured”.

The Corporate Affairs Manager disclosed that “ we have since sent a rescue aircraft from our fleet to convey the passengers to their destination, adding that “ from reports at our disposal, everything is going on as planned”.

Shedding more light on the landing mishap, the Director of Flight Operations of Kabo Air, Mr. Joseph Machimu, noted that “the aircraft just returned from maintenance in Malaysia”. According to him, the aircraft air worthiness is not in question.

Machimu explained: “We were not surprised by the noise the landing mishap generated because those who are close to the industry know clearly that tyre burst at the point of landing is a normal incident.” The Director stated that “ the pilot who was fully conscious of the mishap took full control , taxied it and parked the aircraft to pave the way for evacuation”.

Reacting to the incident, yesterday, Mr. Joe Obi, Special Adviser to the Minister of Aviation, stated that the plane only had a stop over at the airport to pick additional passengers. However, he  admitted that the aircraft landed with deflated tyres and damaged parts of the instruments landing system (ILS) at the runway.

Obi’s statement reads: “On October 4, 2013, a Boeing 747-3 aircraft with Reg 5N-JRM, operated by Kabo Airlines arrived safely with all passengers and crew on board, following a landing incident at the Sokoto airport at 2100 GMT.

” The aircraft, which departed from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, was enroute Saudi Arabia when it had a stop-over at the Sokoto airport for passenger pick-up. Preliminary reports indicate that the control tower gave the pilot clearance to land on Runway 08 but the captain opted to use Runway 26, for reasons yet to be ascertained. The 512 souls on board, made of 494 passengers and 18 crew members, landed safely. The aircraft, however, damaged some Instruments Landing System (ILS) and came to a stop with deflated tyres. The FAAN emergency response apparatus acted swiftly to secure all souls on board and the aircraft.

“The airline has since made arrangements for another aircraft to pick the passengers to complete their journey to Saudi Arabia.”