One of the passengers on board the Enugu Airline plane that crash landed at the Benin Airport has said that all the passengers would have burnt to death if the plane had caught fire. Fire fighters, he said, could not have had access to the spot where the plane eventually stopped.

The passenger, a former lawmaker and top politician in Edo State who pleaded anonymity, said the cabin crew failed to manage the situation, adding that what was more shocking was that the Enugu Airline management had yet to apologise to passengers.

The passenger said the flight departed the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MM2), Lagos, at about 2:06 p.m. after the pilot, identified only as Captain Ladi, informed passengers that the aircraft would cruise at an altitude of 21,000 feet and complete the journey to Benin in about 35 minutes.

He said the pilot warned that there could be turbulence due to adverse weather conditions.

The former lawmaker said the aircraft touched down during a heavy downpour but appeared unable to stop within the runway and later skidded off before crashing into a concrete barrier.

The former lawmaker said: “We took off without any problem at all. Shortly after, the second captain announced that we were about to land, and the plane touched ground in the rain.

“As it touched ground and with the speed it was going, I think it overshot the runway and hit a concrete barrier where it now rested and broke a tyre.

“The cabin crew was very unprofessional. It took myself and one other passenger to shout at other passengers to seat down and not to panic, because there was already pandemonium and some passenger were already trying to jump out.

“If not for our efforts to calm the passengers, it would have been hell. The cabin crew could not control crowd. We had to do it ourselves.

“The Organising Secretary of APC, Osarobo Idehen, was also on the plane. He even lost his phone.

“When the plane came to a halt, the fire fighter could not reach where the plane was. Thank God there was no fire in the plane, if not, we would have all perished. Those who sat by the emergency exit did not know what to do and were running up and down.

“The cabin crew was supposed to open the emergency door, but it was only the back door that they opened and people started jumping out from there.

“The fire fighters were miles away from us. They had to be using firefighters’ Hilux to carry injured passengers.

“I sustained an injury on my neck, and I am surprised that till this moment, the airline has not reached out to me to apologise. They have our email addresses.

“When I bought my ticket, they communicated with me through my email. I thought by now I would have received a mail from them.

“Enugu Air is my favourite airline because they keep to time. The Captain must have tried.

“Some passengers who did not fasten their seat belts tightly were thrown from one point to another.” (The Nation)