PLANE COLLIDES WITH COWS AT OWERRI AIRPORT RUNWAY

Tragedy was yesterday averted, at Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, when a fully-loaded plane belonging to Air Peace had to abort landing, when the pilot discovered that the runway had been invaded by cows.

According to a report by vanguard, a passenger aboard the flight, Mr. Richard Akinnola, who narrated the incident, said the pilot was forced to hover around the airport until the runway was cleared by the airport security. The panic-stricken passengers, who initially thought the pilot deliberately aborted landing, applauded him on being told that a major disaster had been averted as the landing runway had been taken over by cattle.

Recall that this is not the first time a major airport runway was invaded by cows. The Port Harcourt International Airport runway was sometime ago invaded by cows and an approaching Air France plane collided with some of the cows. Left for the expertise of the pilot, it would have been another terrible plane clash though the plane was only slightly damaged with passengers suffering shock. The Federal Government was saddled with the burden of repairing the damaged plane.

When Contacted on the Sam Mbakwe Airport/Air Peace incident, the acting General Manager, Public Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mrs Henrrietta Yakubu, said she had not been briefed about the incident