IBOM AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LIMITED PRESS STATEMENT ON THE NAF INCIDENT AKIA

Forwarded By Aniekan Umanah
Hon. Commissioner, Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information & Social Re-Orientation

(Posted: October 30, 2011)

The Akwa Ibom International Airport (AKIA) and the Margaret Ekpo International Airport (MEIA), Calabar were jointly earmarked as the operation zone for the year 2011 Staff Continuity Training Exercise & Sports Week of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF). The preliminary exercise commenced at the AKIA on Tuesday 25th October, 2011 and has been very successful in the last three (03) days.

On Friday 28th October, 2011, seven NAF airplanes departed MEIA enroute AKIA out of which six (06) landed safely. Unfortunately, at 19.09hours, one of the aircraft with two (02) pilots on board crash landed 1,100 meters from Runway 21. The AKIA aerodrome rescue and fire fighting safety team on activation responded promptly to the incident. Meanwhile, no damage to the AKIA facilities has been recorded. The two (02) pilots are hale and hearty and currently under observation as a matter of procedure.

The NAF investigation team is on site and investigation is on-going.

In a swift reaction, the Management of AKIA have notified NCAA of the incident and the Director General, NCAA having confirmed that the incident was offsite the Airport facilities with no recorded damage to Airport facilities, has given clearance for continuous flight operations into and out of the AKIA.

The Management of AKIA wish to assure the flying public that AKIA is safe for flight operations in line with our current certification.

Capt. Jari Williams
Managing Director/CEO
Ibom Airport Development Company Limited