Cattle disrupt Air Peace from landing in Akure Airport

Scores of cattle made incursion into the runway of the Akure Airport, in Ondo State, preventing an Air Peace flight, which left Lagos for Akure from landing immediately until they were dispersed by security men.

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State had raised the alarm on his Twitter handle said that he witnessed cows taking over the airport runway and preventing aircraft No. 5NBQQ from landing for more than 15 minutes, but expressed appreciation for professionalism of Capt Inyang for saving the lives of the passengers.

Sources at the airport said the incident which has become a regular feature at the airport premises occurred around 12:00 am, causing initial disturbance to the airline and passengers, forcing the former to hover mid-air for some minutes.

“The herdsmen foraged into the runaway causing some disturbance and preventing the aircraft from landing around 11:30am. The incident lasted for about 10 minutes until Aviation Security personnel, (AvSec), arrested the situation,” a source at the airport told our correspondent.

The management Air Peace said that flight P4 7002 from Lagos had to delay landing into Akure Airport when the pilot-in-command sighted cows on the runway at about 12.15pm. “On being alerted by control tower, aviation security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN AVSEC) quickly intervened and cleared the runway.

“The flight was eventually cleared to land after about seven minutes. Our guests on board were all calm while the delay lasted. The aircraft departed for Lagos at about 11.06 with full escort from FAAN security personnel.

Confirming the incident, Air Peace Corporate Communications Manager, Mr. Chris Iwarah said: “We confirm that flight P4 7002 from Lagos had to delay landing into Akure Airport today (Saturday) when the pilot-in-command sighted cows on the runway at about 12.15pm. “On being alerted by control tower, aviation security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN AVSEC) quickly intervened and cleared the runway. “The flight was eventually cleared to land after about seven minutes. Our guests on board were all calm while the delay lasted. “The aircraft departed for Lagos at about 1.06 with full escort from FAAN security personnel.”

Federal Airport Authority’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu,  appologised to the airline for the hitch,  stating, however, “normalcy was restored quickly, as officers of the aviation security department quickly dispersed the cows from the runway and the aircraft was cleared for landing.

 “The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria wishes to apologize to Air Peace Airlines and our esteemed passengers for a runway incursion incident that prevented an Akure Airport -bound flight from landing for some minutes.

“The Authority will like to assure travelers and the general public that efforts are already ongoing to close the gap that aided this incident,” restating FAAN’s commitment to its core values of safety, security and comfort.

Sources said the incident is a regular feature at the airport, adding that in the past one week.

He added that early last year Aviation security personnel arrested two cattle at the airport and it took the intervention of the then Governor Olusegun Mimiko to secure their release.

Wole Shadare