- A United Airlines flight en route from Lagos to Washington D.C. made an emergency return to Lagos
- Several passengers and crew reportedly sustained minor injuries during
- The aircraft safely returned to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, where first responders attended to the injured
United Airlines flight UA613, en route from Lagos to Washington DC, has reportedly declared an emergency and returned to Lagos after several passengers and crew members sustained minor injuries.
The Boeing 787-8, which had 245 passengers, eight flight attendants, and three pilots onboard, turned back while flying over the Ivory Coast airspace.
Flight UA613 lands in Lagos after technical issue
The aircraft reportedly landed safely at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and was met by first responders to attend to several minor injuries among passengers and crew.
A spokesperson for the airline, Linden Birns, confirmed the incident, explaining that the flight returned to Lagos due to a technical issue.
“LFlight UA613 from Lagos to Washington D.C. returned to Lagos to address a technical issue. After landing safely, the aircraft was met by first responders to address reports of minor injuries to several passengers and crew,” Birns stated.
Passengers panic, get injured
An anonymous passenger told Vanguard that the injuries occurred after passengers had unfastened their seatbelts.
“We had already been served our meals when the plane lost pressure and dropped. We noticed a sharp descent. I hit my head on the ceiling because of the impact. I became unconscious, but one person from the medical team came to attend to me in the middle of the turmoil. The sharp descent happened three times, causing some people to sustain injuries. We spent four hours on air. In the midst of the turmoil, the pilot said we were going to land in Ghana, but we eventually landed in Nigeria,” the passenger reportedly stated.
“Over 100 airlines failed in past 40 years,” Keyamo notes high mortality rate in Aviation industry
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, reported that the aviation industry had a mortality rate resulting in the loss of over 100 airlines in 40 years.
The administration pledged to address the ongoing collapse of airlines in Nigeria.