Scores of passengers aboard a United States of America flag carrier on the Lagos-Washington route were left with different degrees of injury when the aircraft they were travelling in developed a technical fault within Ivory Coast airspace and had to make an emergency return back to the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos.
Passengers have taken to the social media to narrate their ordeals with one disclosing that similar incidents had happened twice in the spare of one week and called on the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Me. Festus Keyamo, to swing into action.
The United Airlines aircraft Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight UA613 had 245 passengers, eight flight attendants and three pilots onboard the aircraft with both passengers and crew sustaining minor injuries, the airline confirmed.
The serious incident happened while the aircraft was at a cruising altitude.
An unnamed passenger said, “We had already been served our meals when the plane lost pressure and dropped. We noticed a sharp descent. I hit my head on the ceiling because of the impact. I became unconscious, but one person from the medical team came to attend to me in the middle of the turmoil. The sharp descent happened three times, causing some people to sustain injuries. We spent four hours on air. In the midst of the turmoil, the pilot said we were going to land in Ghana, but we eventually landed in Nigeria.”
The airline in an electronic statement noted that “Flight UA613 from Lagos to Washington D.C. returned to Lagos to address a technical issue. After landing safely, the aircraft was met by first responders to address reports of minor injuries to several passengers and crew.”