The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has revealed that the captain of the VMO Aero aircraft involved in the June 10 landing on a roadway near Asaba Airport told investigators that an observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the airport runway before touchdown.
The incident prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet after it landed on an under-construction roadway instead of Runway 11 at Asaba Airport in Delta State.
According to a preliminary report released by the NSIB on Thursday, the aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot occupying the cockpit jump seat, one cabin crew member and three passengers.
The bureau said the flight crew was initially cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to carry out an approach to Runway 11. During the approach, the crew requested a right orbit, which ATC approved. The aircraft later executed a missed approach before repositioning for a second attempt.
Investigators said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation system indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach during the second landing attempt.
Both the captain and the second-in-command told investigators that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway after the captain sought confirmation before landing.
However, the observer pilot gave a different version of events. He told investigators that the aircraft remained inside cloud cover until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.
The observer pilot also said he noticed a telecommunications mast directly ahead of the aircraft and immediately instructed the captain to abandon the approach and climb away, warning that the aircraft was not aligned for a safe landing.
The NSIB report also captured the account of the cabin crew, who said one of the passengers became uneasy after overhearing conversations among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training.
According to the cabin crew, the passenger was reassured that all three pilots on the flight deck were experienced captains. No unusual events were reported inside the cabin before the aircraft touched down.
The report stated that at approximately 8:57 a.m., the aircraft landed on an under-construction paved roadway located near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.
The NSIB said its investigation is ongoing, and the preliminary report is intended to present the facts established so far without assigning blame or determining the probable cause of the incident.
