An Air Peace flight scheduled to depart from Abuja to Lagos on Thursday morning was forced to aborted just before takeoff due to a bird strike at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
One of the passengers, Lagos-based human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, shared details of the incident on his Facebook page, noting that some passengers reacted with panic and alarm.
“While taxiing on the runway and just before takeoff, our Air Peace flight from Abuja to Lagos, scheduled for 6:30 AM, was forcefully stopped, causing panic and screams from some passengers,” Effiong recounted, according to a report on Leadership.ng
According to Effiong, the captain attributed the sudden stop to a bird strike. Following the incident, passengers were asked to disembark to await either a replacement aircraft or repairs on the affected plane.
“Thankfully, the issue occurred before takeoff. It would have been much scarier if it had happened in flight,” he added.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Effiong updated his Facebook post, informing friends and followers that a replacement aircraft had been arranged and passengers were in the process of boarding for the trip to Lagos.
Effiong also raised a question regarding the presence of “bird detection radar tracking technology” at the domestic terminal of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, suggesting potential safety enhancements for future flights.
