There was a brief fear among the passengers at Port-Harcourt International Airport in Rivers State on Tuesday when a ValueJet CRJ 900 bombardier aircraft went off the runway.
The incident that happened at about 3:30 p.m. after a heavy downpour was caused by a ditch on the runway of the Port-Harcourt International Airport.
This caused an almost 3-hour flight delay for Ibom Air, which was about to take off when the plane came to a stop. The pilot later announced to the passengers that the Port-Harcourt International Airport had been closed due to the skid of ValueJet CRJ 900 bombardier aircraft.
The aircraft had 62 passengers and five flight crews aboard.
A statement from the airline said the plane skidded off the runway after landing on algae.
“The CRJ 900 Bombardier aircraft with registration 5N-BXR landed safely, with passengers wondering what could have happened because the airplane landed safely without difficulty,” the statement reads.
“The minor incident happened at about 3.30 p.m. at the Port-Harcourt International Airport.
“Captain Stanley Balami reported that the aircraft encountered a slip due to algae on the taxiway, which made it unable to maintain the centre line.
“ValueJet remains a safe airline, and all the airline’s operations are normal without glitches.”
