Several travelers on Thursday escaped when their Dubai-bound Qatar Airways airplane all of a sudden had a burst tire while trying to take off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The incident happened on the runway 18 Right of the airplane terminal around 3pm.
One of the travelers, who addressed newsmen , said the Captain was at that point approved for departure by the Air Traffic Controllers when they abruptly heard an uproarious sound.
According to her, this prompted the pilot to stop briefly before deciding to taxi the aircraft back to the terminal where it has earlier departed.
She said the frightened passengers resorted to prayers as the event was occurring.
“We were held in fear for some time. We thank God that the plane has not gathered the full speed for takeoff, we would have been saying something else,” the passenger said.aircraft was later parked for repair at one of the hangers in the terminal while the airline management embarked on alternative arrangement for the affected travellers.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority proved abortive as calls and text messages to its spokesman were not responded to.
