The incident which happened on Tuesday, according to reliable sources, occurred when smoke suddenly bellowed from the cargo area and later spread into and covered the entire cabin of the aircraft used to operate the aborted flight NG316
Pandemonium therefore ensued causing passengers to begin to call on Jesus and Allah for safety as the flight crew battled with the flight.
It would be recalled that AMCON was recently accused of cannibalising one aircraft to repair the other, as situation which is causing the airline to experience low patronage.
An industry source claimed that some passengers who rushed to the toilet were forced to rush back because they almost got choked in the enclosure.
An amateur video taken by one of the passengers clearly showed what happened on board the troubled Port Harcourt –Lagos flight.
Reacting to the incidence of smoke during the flight, Media Consultant to AMCON on Aero, Mr. Simon Tumba in an online statement titled, “Aero Flight NG316 Landed Safely, Investigation Ongoing” said, “Unlike the stories being spread on social media, the management of Aero has explained that flight NG316, which departed Port Harcourt airport on April 18, 2017 at 1608GMT, enroute Lagos, with 52 adults +1 infant on board. They also commended the Pilot and the entire crew for the professionalism they displayed in handling the situation. There have been different accounts of the incidents with some claiming that the smoke came from the baggage compartment while other allude to all manner of unverified claims. But the management of Aero said it regrets any inconveniences the incident might have caused its esteemed passengers and assured it will get to the root cause of the matter.”He said that the management of the almost dead airline has ordered investigation into the incident.According to him, “Although the Management led by Capt. Sanusi, Chief Executive Officer of Aero has ordered for full scale investigation into the incident, preliminary reports has it that at 1645 GMT about 75NM to Lagos at 24,00ft, the cabin crew observed that the cabin was misty. This was reported to the Captain, who briefed the passengers accordingly assuring them of a safe landing in Lagos in a couple of minutes.”
He stated that, expectedly as announced by the pilot, normal descent was initiated into Lagos, adding that while descending however, a passenger went into the lavatory, after which the lavatory smoke detector alarm came on. And that the cabin crew again reported this incident to the Captain and by this time the smoke was getting denser in the cabin.According to the statement, “Ready and armed with “After Cargo Smoke” indication in the flight deck, the crew carried out the smoke dispersal procedures and contacted air traffic control at 1655GMT, requesting for emergency support services and proceeded to Lagos, which is the airport with the full complement of emergency support. At this stage again, the cabin crew reassured the passengers and handed out wet towels to them as a precautionary measure for such incidents.”“The Captain also announced to the passengers to be calm as the smoke in question did not present any irritation or discomfort. The aircraft landed at 1703 GMT without any incident. Although the company engineers had carried out the routine systems checks, and reported all normal, Capt. Sanusi who has also reported the incident to the appropriate authorities in the country said another round of thorough investigation was ongoing” The statement said.
