Another Air Disaster Averted In Nigeria!

On Thursday October 10,2013 another plane crash was miraculously averted in Nigeria. 

This time,The First Nation plane (former Bellview airline) that departed Lagos for Abuja.

 A passenger aboard narrates how it nearly crashed with about 105 passengers just 30minutes before it was scheduled to land.

Below is the narrative by an eye witness of the near Air Disaster that would have added to the toll of plane crashes in Nigeria. 

The first Nation plane which took off from the Lagos MM2 made straight for Abuja But 30 minutes before it was scheduled for landing, something happened. A passenger aboard, who wants to be   anonymous, explained it all. 

"Everything was fine when we boarded the First Nation flight from Lagos. But the unimaginable happened halfway through the journey, I think some 30 minutes before we were scheduled to land. I was actually asleep when I was abruptly woken up by some disturbing noise by the passengers. I thought I was dreaming.. the plane was actually swerving back and forth uncontrollably. We started to scream and pray when the plane wouldn't stop to bounce up and down like a volley ball. It was very bad, and I don't think you'll understand what happened. The plane was actually ascending and descending all at once. My God, it was a nightmare in broad daylight. We were all agitated amidst praying to God to please save us. 

The worse of it all was that the pilot and the crew refused to explain what was going on but even if they had told us anything, nothing would have made sense for as long as that plane continued to bounce mid air. It was not turbulence I guarantee you. It was such that the plane would descend so low as if to touch the ground, and then it would immediately ascend with a lot of noise and staggering. Perhaps you can speak to another person that was on that plane to corroborate what am saying, it was not funny at all. This went on for a while before the plane finally managed and staggered to touch down. 

Oh It was very bad. You know as we haven't forgotten the recent crash that happened barely 2weeks ago, so you can imagine what went through our minds. I thought we were all going to die, that's the truth. Thank God am here to recount this, we walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I am not sure I will be flying within Nigeria ever again or anytime soon"

What is really going on in the aviation sector in Nigeria? While I do not wish to 'scapegoat' or apportion blames to any public officer regarding the recent crashes, it would be stating the obvious if I said that there has been a drastic decline in what should be considered the safety measures in our air travel safety in Nigeria. 

I humbly suggest that the power that be should perhaps declare a state of emergency in this sector. This is so that they can adequately and thoroughly investigate every airline and their carriers. Not only that, those who have failed to meet the standards in the past should NOT be allowed to re-brand themselves and return to business as usual. 

Amazingly, this First Nation airline that would have crashed again is a re-brand of the Bellview airlines. The Nation has not forgotten what happened with Bellview years ago, and I do not know why they had to re-launch under another name to continue business as usual if in fact they are yet to qualify under the aviation regulatory bodies. 

I also imagine that in future, the likes of  Sosoliso or even DANA air, will also return under a refurbished name to resume business as usual and to continue to fly while they endanger people's lives. 

The First Nation aircraft had about 105 passengers aboard on that day, and they would have perished and subjected the Nation to another round of mourning. This incident was not, and has not been reported because in the media and i wonder why.

We should all strive to report anything that is deemed unfit to fly because you never know which of our friends or family might be flying in that unfit plane!

Thank God nothing happened but do we need to keep flying local flights with abated breath?