The tyres of a Dana Air aircraft caught fire on Monday evening at the Port Harcourt airport in Rivers State just before take-off.
Some 50 passengers of the Lagos-bound flight were forced to disembark immediately.
Dana Air spokesman Kingsley Ezenwa in a statement on Tuesday said the aircraft has been grounded pending probe.
“Our aircraft with registration number 5N JOY operating flight 9J 344 from Port Harcourt to Lagos on 2nd of May 2022, was set to take off when the pilot in command noticed an anomaly which he queried with the Air Traffic Control before embarking on a ramp return in line with our strict safety operating procedures,” the statement said.
“However, the impact on the brakes as a result of the aborted take off affected the aircraft tyres which sparked off while the aircraft was taxiing to repark.
“All 50 passengers onboard the aircraft disembarked safely and our maintenance team have immediately grounded the aircraft pending the conclusion of their investigations.”
