Hundreds of
passengers on Thursday escaped death when their Dubai-bound Qatar
Airways aircraft suddenly had a burst tyre while attempting to take
off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The incident
occurred on runway 18 Right of the airport around 3PM.
One of the
passengers, who spoke to newsmen on condition of anonymity, said the Captain
was already cleared for take off by the Air Traffic Controllers when they
suddenly heard a loud sound.
According to
her, this prompted the pilot to stop briefly before deciding to taxi the
aircraft back to the terminal where it has earlier departed.
She said the
frightened passengers resorted to prayers as the event was occurring.
“We were
held in fear for some time. We thank God that the plane has not gathered the
full speed for takeoff, we would have been saying something else,” the
passenger said.
The aircraft
was later parked for repair at one of the hangers in the terminal while the
airline management embarked on alternative arrangement for the affected
travellers.
Efforts to
get the reaction of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) proved
abortive as calls and text messages to its spokesman were not responded to.
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