Former President, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo and 393 other Passengers escaped death on Wednesday at Murtala Mohammed International Airport when an Ethiopian Airlines plane almost crashed.

Other prominent Nigerians in the Ethiopian Airline passenger aircraft, Boeing 777-300, included Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr Ayoola Olukanni.

Also in the plane was Mr Samson Adebayo, Director of Ports Inspection, National Agency For Food And Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC) as well as scores of Nigerians and other nationals.

Ethiopian Airline passenger aircraft, ET-901, had departed Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, at about 9:10 a.m., Ethiopian time; 7 a.m Nigerian time.

A NAN correspondent, who was among the passengers, recalled that the almost five-hour flight from the Ethiopian capital to Lagos had been smooth until the pilot attempted to land at the Murtala Mohammed International airport.

Rather than landing on the first touchline of the runway, the pilot overshot it, due to rain and heavy wind, landing on the third touchline.

On realising this, the pilot quickly manoeuvred the plane back air, flying out of Lagos airport.

After hovering around between Lagos and areas suspected to be in Ogun, causing panic in passengers and crew members, the plane landed in Lagos airport, some 20 minutes after the initial false landing.

The atmosphere in the airbus upon landing was a replica of what obtains in some Nigerian worship centres, as many passengers broke out into worship songs and clapping, while some fell to their knees in prayer.

Duty manager and Chief Customer Service (Nigeria) of the airline, Mr Otori Otan, said if the pilot had continued taxing down after landing on the third touchline, he would have overshot the runway.

“But this is an experienced pilot. He realised this immediately.

“Fortunately, the distance between when he realised the situation still permitted him to take off and renegotiate landing,” Otori said.

Obasanjo and Olukanni had both attended a Stakeholders Dialogue on Continental Trade and Strengthening Implementation of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which ended on Tuesday in Addis Ababa.

NAN