By Lawani Mikairu & Daniel Eteghe

LAGOS—Hundreds of passengers escaped suffocation yesterday when an Abuja bound MedView Airline plane suffered depressurisation when the plane had already attained about 8000 ft altitude after taking off from Muritala Muhammed Airport ,MMA2, Lagos.

The technical problem affected the cooling system and passengers were gasping for breath.

This development forced the pilot to immediately return to Lagos where it took off. The passengers were evacuated and alternative arrangement was made for them to continue their flight to Abuja.

Reacting to the incident, the media consultant of MedView Airline, Mr Obuke Oyebota, said: “ Abuja bound MedView Airline aircraft made an air return this morning (yesterday). At about 8000 ft altitude it developed a pressurisation problem which affected the cooling system. The pilot properly briefed the passengers and landed safely. There was no panic. Another aircraft was made available immediately and the passengers were flown to Abuja.”

The acting General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye when asked if the airline filed a Mandatory Occurrence Report with them said he did not have any detail on the incident.

Mr. Adurogboye added that air return is a normal occurrence in the aviation industry stressing that it depicts a situation when a pilot discover a fault and return to base to fix it. “It is a normal thing; the pilot took off and discovered a fault and returned to the airport to fix it. There is really no big deal about it,” he stressed.