The plane involved in a minor accident on Saturday at the Sultan Abubakar Airport in Sokoto arrived Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, safely, a Hajj official has said.
The plane, owned by Kabo airlines, had a burst tyre while landing at the Sokoto airport, Uba Mana, the spokesperson of the National Hajj Commission, NAHCON, told PREMIUM TIMES. Mr. Mana said the plane had proceeded to Saudi Arabia and landed safely at Jeddah Airport.
"Let me correct the erroneous impression about mid air tyre burst. An aircraft tyre cannot burst while on air. The tyre is always within the body of the aircraft until when it is landing, that is when it is released out," he said.
"The plane went to Sokoto to pick up additional passengers to fill up the vacancies in the aircraft before heading to Saudi Arabia; and on landing, one of the aircraft tyres bursted."
The NAHCON spokesperson said burst tyre during landings happens a lot in the aviation industry, adding that no one was hurt in the Sokoto incident.
"The plane has since landed in Saudi Arabia. All they had to do was change the flat tyre. The plane did not experience any technical problem," he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria had earlier reported that the Boeing 747 plane with registration number, 5N-JRM, had an emergency landing at the Sokoto airport at about 10 p.m.
The agency stated that arrangements were made by the management of Kabo Air to fly in another aircraft from Kano to convey the intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
It also reported that the Governor of Kebbi State, Saidu Dakingari, and his wife, who were supposed to join the plane to Jeddah, had returned to Birnin Kebbi on learning about the incident.
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