SAN FRANCISCO, November 02, (THEWILL) – An Arik Air aircraft scheduled to convey passengers to Lagos from Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, a suburb of Port Harcourt, the capital city of the Rivers State has been grounded, leaving passengers stranded after the plane failed to take off.
Aledeh reports that the pilot of the flight W3-741 which was scheduled for 09:00 had to disembark the passengers after three unsuccessful takeoff attempts.
ARIK RESPONDS:
“We can factually report as follows:
- i. Our plane was at the threshold at Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa when the Captain noticed a snag and as a precautionary measure returned to the ramp.
- ii. The Captain did not make three take off attempts as stated in your story.
- iii. Engineers were deployed to fix the snag and the plane has since returned to Lagos.
Arik Air is a safety conscious airline with over 12 years of successful operations and we prioritize the safety of customers above all else.
The media is an important partner. We note that in line with best practice, you need to obtain alternative views on stories or response from concerned parties before going public.”
The incident occurred days after Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and other passengers, reportedly escaped death on a troubled Arik Air flight also from Port Harcourt to Lagos.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident, related by Amaechi’s allies on WhatsApp, Arik Air Flight W3745 left Port Harcourt around 10pm on Sunday but did not land in Lagos until 01:02am on Monday.
The account relayed on social media begins thus: “Children of God, let us return the glory to God Almighty for saving the life of our own man of awesome grace the Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and that of many others, in an aborted plan crash. I had confirmed the incident from him, he said: True, God is great.
“THE GOD SAVED RT HON. ROTIMI C. AMAECHI AND MANY OTHERS ON ARIK AIR FLIGHT ENROUTE PH-LOS.
“No place for argument! We left Port Harcourt at about 22:00, experienced some turbulence while descending into Lagos, the pilot said there was storm passing through WA this period, and that it was a rare occurrence.
“At about 23:30, he made the first attempt to land, I sat by the window so I could see a bit more, the plane was close to touching the ground, when a sudden wind came from the side and took over the plane, pilot aborted the landing, with the plane shaking from side to side due to the wind force, and the engines crying from very high RPM, he made his way back up. People shouted, cried, prayed, and there I was forming cool guy.
“My colleague siting behind said ‘Ibimina, that was a close call’ Mr cool guy was there quite saying we will land soon, soon turned into over 2 hours of the pilot struggling to control the plane, people passing out, prayers turning into receive my soul…
“But just before the failed first attempt of five attempts, the Lord asked me to pray because it will be worse, I felt it was my many documentaries on ‘moments before disaster’ getting the better of me. For more than two hours, we died many deaths, I thought about my wife and my son, as tears dripped down my face (I just started crying again).
“A thought came to me to say my final prayers, the pilot was finding it difficult to steady the plane for over an hour, then I asked myself why did He ask me to pray, if I will still die, so I refused to pray any prayer of ‘receive my soul’ I began to shout Tamunodein!!!! (the peace of God) which happens to be my son’s name, I said the storms obeyed You, they will obey you again today, I refuse to die like this!
“I speak your peace and declare that You provide a window for this plane to land, by the sixth attempt HE gave us a window and we landed at about 01:02am today. The air hostess at some point started shouting, ‘people, call upon God, we will survive, raise your praises God is able to do it’.
“I can’t write all that happened, but when we got off the plane, someone from the control room met us and said we went off the radar more than three times. My colleague went to the cockpit to thank the pilot, and he told him, he had flown over 50 planes and has never seen this before.
“They gathered today to end us, but the Lord sent HIS angels, and Rebuked them.
A thousand tongues truly won’t be enough… The Lord spared our lives.
“May God bless the pilot of Arik Air flight W3745 from PH – LOS, to all those that survived with me, including the minister of transport, we owe Him our lives. He is a great deliverer!!!”
