LAYI OLANREWAJU, Ilorin

A training aircraft belonging to International Aviation College (IAC), Ilorin reportedly crash-landed at the airport runway on Wednesday.

The Diamond plane No.5N BNH with two pilots onboard reportedly crash landed at exactly 11:05 am without any casualty.

According to sources within the airport, the staff of the IAC, including the rector and some of the airport workers, had evacuated the aircraft from the runway in order to reopen the airspace for flight operations.

The sources added that the aircraft might have experienced gear problem, adding that the back tyres refused to pull out when the pilot was trying to land on the runway.

When contacted, the Airspace Manager of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) at the airport, Engr Balogun Abiodun, said that he was not authorised to talk on the incident as a civil servant.

Also, the Rector of the aviation college, Engineer Benedict Adeyileke, declined comment when contacted.

It was also gathered that the aircraft was towed to the Aviation College before the airspace was reopened around 4:00 pm for flight operations.

Meanwhile, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who was said to be returning from his Abuja trip, was delayed as a result of the incident for about three hours before arriving at the airport.

The governor, who had his convoy stationed at the airport around 2:22 pm waiting for his arrival from Abuja airport, had to wait until the airspace was reopened and his chartered aircraft landed at the airport at exactly 5:35 pm.