The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has confirmed that a training aircraft veered off the runway at the General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Saturday evening.
Obiageli Orah, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at FAAN, in a statement on Saturday, said the incident involved a Diamond DA42 aircraft with registration number 5N-BNI, which was being used for training and had two persons on board.
“The aircraft landed but veered off the Runway and eventually came to a stop on the grass area,” FAAN said. The event occurred on Runway 05 at approximately 18:31hrs local time, the agency noted.
According to the statement, both occupants of the aircraft were promptly evacuated and taken to a nearby medical facility. “They are both stable and responding to treatment,” FAAN added.
The authority also confirmed that the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) had conducted preliminary assessments of the incident. Following the evaluations, the disabled aircraft was recovered to the premises of the International Aviation College in Ilorin.
FAAN assured the public that flight operations at the airport have since resumed and are running without disruption.