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Another Overland Mishap Averted In Asaba

October 24, 2011

Another Overland Airways flight from Lagos to the increasingly-notorious "Asaba International Airport" nearly crashed again today due to poor weather and problems with communication equipment at the N40 billion uncompleted facility. 

Another Overland Airways flight from Lagos to the increasingly-notorious "Asaba International Airport" nearly crashed again today due to poor weather and problems with communication equipment at the N40 billion uncompleted facility. 

  The latest mishap was more dramatic than a previous one about which a Citizen Reporter wrote here in SaharaReporters only yesterday. In today’s drama, the aircraft was forced to land twice at the airport in Benin City before making a third, successful attempt in Asaba.   A distraught passenger told SaharaReporters that each time the aircraft landed in Benin, they prevented the passengers from disembarking, claiming that the airport authorities in Benin would charge the airline landing fees they don’t have. After calming down the passengers for a while, the pilot hurriedly took off from Benin City to make another landing attempt in Asaba, a game of chance played twice before the third foray into Asaba   The aircraft which left Lagos at 1:00 pm for the hour-long trip finally landed at its Asaba destination at 4:04 p.m. using a deadly combination of satellite and mobile phones  to communicate with ground staff in Asaba.   The rough landing took place after the pilot had already informed the rattled passengers they aircraft would be returning to Lagos.   What is now clear is that the federal and state authorities are using the lives of ordinary Nigerians to test the Asaba airport, as Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan seems determined to prove that he has a workable airport in Delta State.  The conundrum is that the governor himself does not risk his priceless life using the Asaba airport; he drives to the Benin Airport instead.

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