Plane lands at wrong airport, 320km from actual destination
The United Nigeria Airlines flight from Lagos was meant to land in the capital, Abuja. However, once on the ground, it was revealed the plane was actually now in Asaba, 318km in the wrong direction.
It appears Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) isn’t convinced by the airline’s explanation (file photo).
Alan Granville
An airline in Nigeria is under investigation after one of its planes landed in the wrong airport, more than 300km away from its intended destination.
The United Nigeria Airlines flight from Lagos was meant to land in the capital, Abuja. However, once on the ground, it was revealed the plane was actually now in Asaba, 318km in the wrong direction.
Confused passengers onboard took to social media with one saying: “We departed Lagos about an hour ago to Abuja, and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we've arrived Abuja, only for us to realize that we landed in Asaba. Apparently, our pilot was given wrong flight plan from Lagos.”
But the airline denies it is in the wrong, saying that the pilot had been told there was bad weather in Abuja so needed to fly to Asaba and that “a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba, creating confusion among the passengers”. The plane eventually flew on to Abuja.
It appears Nigeria’s Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) isn’t convinced by the airline’s explanation.
The weather was reportedly fine in Abuja, according to aviation site One Mile At A Time and the NCAA has decided to suspend United Nigeria Airlines while an investigation is launched.
“The Authority wishes to reassure the travelling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry,” it said in a statement posted online.
United Nigeria Airlines is a wet lease operator, meaning they use crew and aircraft from other airlines.
Pilots landing at the wrong airports are thankfully rare, but do happen.
In 2020, Buddha Air flight U4505 was meant to fly from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu to Janakpur. However, the 69 passengers on board must have been a bit confused when they landed, as they were more than 250km away from their original destination in Pokhara.
The reason for the mix-up was partly down to weather conditions, as a flight number was changed at the last minute to permit landings into Pokhara. It is then thought a “miscommunication” between the ground staff and pilots resulted in the flight heading in the wrong direction.
A year earlier, passengers on a British Airways flight to Düsseldorf were surprised to land in Edinburgh by mistake.
Passenger Sophie Cooke, 24, told the BBC that everyone assumed it was a joke - then the pilot asked those on board to raise their hands if they were due to go to Düsseldorf. The plane eventually redirected and landed in the German city. It emerged that flight plan paperwork had been incorrectly submitted.
In 2016, pilot error was blamed when a Delta Air Lines jet with 130 passengers landed at the wrong airport in the United States. Delta Flight 2845 from Minneapolis landed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, about 10km northwest of the intended destination, Rapid City Regional Airport.
Stuff Limited