Cows Takeover Akure Airport, As Air Peace Flight Hover In Air

Less than a week after burglars attempted to tamper with the luggage hold of its a Boeing 737 aircraft on the runway of Murtala Muhammed Ai...

Less than a week after burglars attempted to tamper with the luggage hold of its a Boeing 737 aircraft on the runway of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, cows again disrupted an Air Peace flight at Akure Airport

SaharaReporters learnt that flight 7002 with the registration number 5NBQQ, which departed Lagos around 11:20 am could not land at Akure Airport following the hordes of cows that invaded the runway.

It was gathered that the pilot, Capt. Williams Iyang had to hover in the air for about 10 minutes before being cleared to land on the runway by the Akure Airport Control Tower.

The pilot was able to land the aircraft at 12:25 pm after the Aviation Security, a department under the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), cleared the runway of the hordes of cows.

No fewer than 65 passengers were on-board the flight from Lagos.

When the aircraft was to depart Akure, AVSEC had to escort the aircraft to ensure the cows had not returned to the runway.

FAAN in a statement by Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, confirmed the incident.

She apologized to the airline and the passengers for the incident.

She said: The Air Peace flight, which left Lagos for Akure could not land immediately as some cows had strayed into the runway of the airport.

“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 authority will like to assure travellers and the general public that efforts are already ongoing to close the gap that aided this incident.”

It was not the first time cows would invade the nation’s airports. In 2006, an Air France aircraft had collided with cows on the runway, which caused massive damage to the body of the aircraft. No fewer than seven cows died in the incident.

Akure Airport is one of the many airports in Nigeria that lacks perimeter fencing and this had allowed several unauthorised persons to gain access to restricted areas within the airports.