The passengers of flight 0504 of the United Nigeria Airlines, which took off on Sunday from the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Terminal 2 in Lagos en route Abuja were thrown into absolute confusion following its landing at a wrong destination.
A social media user with the handle @dawisu via the microblogging platform, X formerly Twitter, disclosed that the pilot was given the wrong flight plan from Lagos.
Dawisu said they departed Lagos for Abuja and were in shock when the cabin crew announced that they have landed in Asaba.
His tweet read,
“Nigeria my country. We departed Lagos about an hour ago on @flyunitedng to Abuja, and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we’ve arrived Abuja, only for us to realize that we landed in Asaba. Apparently, our pilot was given wrong flight plan from Lagos.”
On arrival at the Asaba International Airport, the pilot grounded the flight, causing panic among passengers.
Reacting to the incident, the airline, however, said in a statement through its head of corporate services Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu that the flight was diverted due to poor weather conditions.
He maintained that the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed.
The statement read in part,
“A United Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM2 in Lagos en route Abuja on Sunday, November 26, 2023, was temporarily diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather.
“At all material time, the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed.
“However, a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba, creating confusion among the passengers.”
Uchegbu added, “Meanwhile, the aircraft has landed safely in Abuja following improvement on destination weather. United Nigeria Airlines remains committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers at all times.”
See statement below;
