Chinelo Obogo
The management of British Airways yesterday, explained a mid air loss of one of the engines of an Abuja, Nigeria -bound aircraft which eventually forced it to make an air return to Heathrow Airport on Tuesday night.
In a statement made available to newsmen, the airline’s management said: “Our aircraft returned to Heathrow and was met by the emergency services as a precaution after experiencing a minor technical issue.
“Our teams looked after our customers last night, providing them with overnight accommodation. We’re sorry to our customers for the delay to their travel plans.”
The explanation came nearly 24 hours after a British Airways flight BA083 flying into Abuja, returned to the London Heathrow Airport following the loss of one of its engine mid air.
The aircraft took off from Heathrow airport, London Tuesday November 26 and was already airborne when the pilot announced that it would be returning to London. Although management of the airline described the incident as ‘a minor technical issue’ and said the pilot had to take precaution by flying back to London, anxious relatives of most of the pasengers on board the airplane were concerned over the safty of the loved ones.
There were indications yesterday that the passengers would eventually be flown to Abuja in another aircraft after Tuesday’s panic generated by the mid air incident.