Yola: Passengers Stranded As Max Air Aircraft’s Burst Tyres Block Runway

Flights to Lamido Aliyu Mustapha International Airport was crippled on Monday following Max Air aircraft departing Yola airport for Abuja yesterday evening suffered a tyre burst during take-off thereby making passengers stranded at the airport

LEADERSHIP gathered that no single aircraft landed in Yola Monday as aircraft were still on the runway not yet toyed away source confirmed.

It was learnt that passengers was unaware of the incident and thronged the airport as usual to catch their flight finally got disappointed

It was also gathered that, team from the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has to land at Gombe international airport, before patronising Gombe line buses to find their way to Yola for the replacement of the bursted tires and investigation on the incident.

A worker at the airport said, “ No single aircraft landed today, because the ill-fated max air is still on the runway.

“We saw Hummer buses belonging to Gombe state just brought in engineers from Abuja, because the runway was blocked for safe landing.

Recall that Max Air’s flight number NGL1649, a Boeing 737 with registration mark 5N-ADB, reportedly carried 119 passengers and six crew members on board.

A statement by the director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, said no injuries were recorded.

The statement reads: “This evening, Max Air’s flight NGL1649, a Boeing 737 with registration 5N-ADB, carrying 119 passengers and 6 crew members, was cleared for takeoff from Yola Airport en route to Abuja. During the takeoff roll, a loud bang was heard, identified as the bursting of the rear gear tyres.

“Initially, two tyres burst. While attempting to taxi off the runway, the remaining two tyres also burst, rendering the aircraft completely disabled. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
A go-team, led by NSIB director general Capt. Alex Badeh Jr., will visit the incident site tomorrow morning to conduct an investigation.” the statement added.