Another air tragedy averted: Gov, wife, 512 others escape death •As Saudi-bound jumbo jet loses 2 tyres while landing in Sokoto

JUST as the country still continues to mourn the crash of an Embraer 120 plane which crashed on Thursday with the remains of the late Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Agagu  which killed 13 of the 20 people on board, another plane belonging to Kabo Air Friday night which took off from Kano Airport and heading towards Sokoto recorded an incident while landing.
The plane, which was carrying 512 Muslim pilgrims to Saudi but billed to stop in Sokoto to pick up the state governor, Aliyu Wamakko, his wife and some other passengers was said to have suffered  burst tyres before ramming  into the Instrument Landing System (ILS), a navigational equipment installed at the airport
 In a statement issued by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), it stated that that the Boeing 747-3 aircraft with Reg 5N-JRM belonging to Kabo Air operated by Kabo airlines arrived safely with all passengers and crew on board, following a landing incident at the Sokoto airport at 2100 GMT.
“The aircraft which departed from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano was en route Saudi Arabia when it had a stop-over at the Sokoto airport for passenger pickup.
Preliminary reports indicate that the control tower gave the pilot clearance to land on Runway 08 but the captain, opted to use Runway 26, for reasons yet to be ascertained.
“”The 512 souls on board, made of 494 passengers and 18 crew members landed safely.
The aircraft however damaged some Instruments Landing System (ILS) and came to a stop with deflated tyres.
“The FAAN emergency response apparatus acted swiftly to secure all souls on board and the aircraft.
The airline has since made arrangements for another aircraft to pick the passengers to complete their journey to Saudi Arabia.”
Meanwhile, the airline’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Alhaji Aminu Hamza,  refuted reports that the aircraft had an emergency landing, saying it only lost two of its tyres in the process of landing. He  said there was no diversion as the aircraft was to pick additional 54 International passengers in Sokoto before the incident.
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