Chartered Nigerian plane crashes at Sam Mbakwe airport, 2 critically injured

By Mevlut Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - A small chartered plane from Kaduna has crash-landed at Sam Mbakwe International Airport in Owerri, in the southern state of Imo, leaving two of the four people on board in critical condition, local media reported on Wednesday.

The plane was en route to Port Harcourt when it crash-landed at the threshold of Runway 17, and the two critically injured passengers were rushed to the nearby Nigerian Air Force Hospital, a Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority staff member told local news website Vanguard.

Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, director of public affairs at the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), said the NSIB had been notified of a Cessna 172 operated by Skypower Express that crashed on Tuesday around 8 pm local time (GMT1900), according to the website.

Airport emergency services promptly responded to the crash, with no post-incident fire reported, the runway remaining open, and efforts underway to remove the aircraft for a detailed wreckage examination.