A potentially tragic incident was narrowly averted when an aircraft, on which Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, was traveling, crash-landed near Ibadan Airport in Oyo State. Initial reports suggested a crash, but it was later clarified that the aircraft had crash-landed.
The details of the incident are still emerging, and it remains unclear if the minister or any other passengers on board sustained injuries. The incident occurred on a Friday night and followed a travel warning issued by the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NiMET) due to hazy weather conditions.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had also advised pilots and airline operators to exercise caution as the dry season approaches.
The aircraft involved was a chartered Flint Short Aero, an HS 125 with the registration number 5N-AMM. It had initially requested an extension with the control tower at 18:56, which was granted by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
The aircraft had departed from Abuja with Ibadan as its destination. However, it landed short of the runway threshold by about 50 meters and skidded into a bushy ditch close to the runway.
While the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has been informed of the incident, no official statement has been released. NSIB investigators are currently on the ground in Ibadan to determine the immediate and underlying causes of the incident.
