The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has grounded the Bombardier Challenger CL601-3A business jet that mistakenly landed on a road under construction instead of the runway at Asaba Airport, while imposing sanctions on the flight crew as investigations into the unusual incident continue.
Director-General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo, announced that the Pilot-in-Command has been barred from operating in Nigerian airspace, the First Officer has been suspended from flight duties, and the aircraft’s Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) has been suspended, effectively preventing the jet from flying until the investigation is concluded.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Airport Business Summit in Lagos, Najomo described the June 10 incident as unprecedented and said the authority was determined to establish exactly how the aircraft came to land on a construction roadway rather than Runway 11 at Asaba Airport.
The NCAA chief explained that while the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) had completed the initial safety investigation and released its preliminary report, the regulatory phase of the inquiry now rests with the NCAA. He also disclosed that the Department of State Services (DSS) has joined the investigation, underscoring the seriousness of the occurrence.
“I cannot understand how an aircraft could mistake a road for a runway,” Najomo said, adding that the regulator would thoroughly examine every aspect of the incident before deciding on any further enforcement actions.
The aircraft, a Bombardier Challenger CL601-3A with American registration N989BC operated by VMO Aero Limited, departed Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight to Asaba carrying seven occupants, including the Pilot-in-Command, First Officer, an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers. All on board escaped without injury, although the aircraft sustained minor damage to its left nose-wheel assembly.
According to the NSIB’s preliminary report, questions had been raised before departure over possible discrepancies in the aircraft’s Flight Management System (FMS) programming. The observer pilot reportedly expressed concern about the system setup, but the Pilot-in-Command instructed him not to interfere because he was travelling only in an observational capacity. Although the flight crew later acknowledged noticing discrepancies during programming, they maintained the issues had been corrected before take-off.
Investigators said weather conditions near Asaba Airport included broken cloud and intermittent visibility, making visual acquisition of the runway difficult. During the first approach, the Pilot-in-Command reported that although the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated proper alignment with the RNAV Runway 11 approach, the runway appeared displaced to the right of the aircraft’s flight path. The approach was discontinued and Air Traffic Control approved a 360-degree turn for another attempt.
Following a second RNAV approach, the crew reported having the runway in sight and continued the descent. However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different account, stating that the aircraft remained in cloud much longer than expected while the Ground Proximity Warning System repeatedly issued “Terrain… Terrain… Pull Up” alerts. He also reported seeing a telecommunications mast directly ahead and advised the Pilot-in-Command to execute a missed approach.
Instead, the aircraft continued descending and landed on a paved roadway under construction adjacent to the airport at about 8:57 a.m. The crew reportedly believed they had landed on a runway extension before realising they had stopped on the construction road near parked equipment.
The preliminary investigation concluded that the crew had mistaken the roadway for Runway 11 while relying on navigation displays that continued to indicate correct alignment. The report also revealed that Asaba Air Traffic Control made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft after landing but received no response for almost two hours, partly because the airport’s voice-recording system was unserviceable, forcing investigators to rely on communication transcripts during the investigation.
Najomo assured the travelling public and industry stakeholders that the NCAA would complete a comprehensive regulatory investigation and take any additional enforcement action considered necessary to safeguard aviation safety in Nigeria.
