Aero Contractors Airline Flight 180, going from Lagos to Kaduna, suddenly lost altitude, 20 minutes after it departed the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. This forced the aircraft to wobble in the air for over 1 hour before it was
eventually diverted to Abuja. The Director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, who broke the news said:
“The plane lost altitude 20 minutes after takeoff. We had to make use of the oxygen masks. We saw smoke outside the plane, probably coming from the engine compartment. At this time, the whole plane was thrown into commotion. Many passengers screamed and some fainted. Prayers upon prayer were offered. Some shouted Allah, others Jesus.
While the pilot was making the announcement of the flight diversion, I noticed that his voice was trembling. He told us that Abuja was 120 miles away and that we would land in 25 minutes. But we were not sure we would make it. In fact, I quickly recited the Kalimah (the Quranic invocation of the oneness of Allah), believing that the end had come.
The plane finally touched down in Abuja at about 9.00pm and upon landing in Abuja, the officials of the airline told us that the fault would be hurriedly repaired. And that the plane would proceed to take us to Kaduna, our original destination. I could not risk being flown in the same aircraft that was divinely saved from crashing. Allah forbids. As I am talking to you, I am now in a taxi taking me to Kaduna. They asked how many of us wanted to disembark and almost everybody came out.”…. including d pilot……