Jakumo:

For me, there would be no greater act of[b] Patriotism [/b] I could perform than to die in a plane crash which resulted from my aircraft running out of fuel after being delayed indefinitely in a holding pattern so as to make way for the arrival of Nigeria's Airforce One and its terminally sick occupant.

As soon as the captain of my plane announced that we are out of fuel and heading down for a certain appointment with a fiery death, I would commence to sing the Nigerian national anthem loudly enough to drown out the futile screamed prayers of all those seated around me, confident in the knowledge that El Presidente would declare all of us aboard the ill-fated plane as heroes whose bereaved families might be eligible for 200 naira compensation after a few decades of air-crash investigations and paperwork in Abuja.

ROFLMAO. Loving the Sarcasm. While singing the anthem, don't forget to add the Nigerian pledge as well. LOL.

imagine if one of the passengers had an important interview to attend.

sincerely,if i were on board that plane,i would rain curses on yaradua.the guy is beginning to piss me off with his rather retrogressive style of leadership.

Sapphic:


^{(But Na wah for reporting o. How can a plane which (according to the report) was supposed to land at about 1pm but instead landed around 3PM, have been suspended in the air for 3 hours? Sensationalism is always the order of the day with these people ).}

between 12 noon and 1pm,i guess the plane was cruising on River Niger before it took off for the Abuja airport.The report tells us about passengers who took off from Lagos at 12 and landed at 3pm.Doesn't that count as 3hrs of their precious time?

thats kind of crazy,so if the the plane wasnt too good,that means crash landin then,for all u might care about yar adua might not know about it,cos someof ur so called authority does some crazy things, like if a Gov. is goin some where scheduled for 2p.m,the road will av been blocked by 10a.m,its only happens in naija

As some posters have rightly stated, airspace can be closed for presidential movement. In ICAO rule book, the airplane carrying a country Head of State has priority take-off and landing rights. This privilege may be extended to a visiting Head of State.

I have doubt about the reason given by the airline for the delay if such long delay did indeed happen. The report was said to be culled from the Saturday 17/1/08 edition of Saturday Vanguard. Since it referred to ‘yesterday’, one can deduce that the event happened on Friday 16/1/08 between 12 noon and 3pm (since the plane reportedly landed at 3pm after ‘3hours’ delay). But at that period, the president was at National Central Mosque in central Abuja for normal Friday muslim prayer. Was the airport closed for the president that was 60km away or was the whole Abuja airspace closed when there was no national emergency?

Nigeria government has in recent times taken measures to minimise the time of closure of airport for VIP movement. These include shifting official reception and Guard Review of the visiting president to the grounds of the Presidential Villa instead of the airport, so our president hardly goes to airport to receive dignitaries.

If the report had referred to the previous Saturday 10/1/08, it would be understandable because of the emergency ECOWAS Heads of state’s meeting on Guinea coup that took place that day but then no genuine aviation official would have claimed ignorance of such pre-planned closure.

I will also raise the issue of apparent non-compliance with ICAO rule by Bellview on the minimum quantity of fuel to be carried by planes. It should be enough to reach planned destination and possible diversion to another airport. Now, no air controller will ask a 1 hour flight to be in holding pattern for 3 hours at destination airport (an equivalent of 2 return trips) without diverting or returning it. In fact, the flight would not have originated at all since Lagos is in the same air jurisdiction as Abuja.

As for passengers fainting, did the plane got de-pressurised because it was held up? Was it then allowed to land because of mayday call or no distress call was made or it was ignored?

There are many things in that report that just do not reflect how civil aviation operations are done

The people fainted due to the amount of hours they spent in the air? What a stupid and ridiculous statement to make, so, people who travel 11 hours to China, Australia should all be dead meet by the time they get out of the airplane? What a sad report, thse things happen normally but it becomes a story in Nigeria.

hopeless helpless nigeria

i_laugh:

The people fainted due to the amount of hours they spent in the air? What a stupid and ridiculous statement to make, so, people who travel 11 hours to China, Australia should all be dead meet by the time they get out of the airplane? What a sad report, thse things happen normally but it becomes a story in Nigeria.

If you are going to China which is 11 hours according to you, you will know you are going to China and prepare your mind for the journey, but you are comming from Lagos to Abuja a journey which is not supposed to be 1 hour and suddenly it started going to 3 hour, then something must tell your mind that something is wrong and that can incur fear into you. Imagine yourself travelling to China which is 11 hour as you said and after 20 hours the plane has not landed, how would you feel, won't you be thinking that fuel can run off at anytime.

one thing that is not precious in nigeria lifestyle is human life, we have no regard for human life, we are only after those of our familys & friends without thinking of our neigbhours or strangers.

i once had a similar experience @ MMIA during the time of former president Obasanjo. the plane was held in air for close 2 one hour because of who: obasanjo.

one thing is certain, protocol can be maintained and relaxed in whatever context it is to be applied. do airports notify other airports that a vip would be boarding or deboarding in a particular timeframe. dats there is no viable communication between our so-called airports in the country.

in the case of being held up in the air becos of 1 vip, a plane should land, and the necesaary precaution would be that the passengers would not deboard until the vip is off the airport or in the air with minimal air traffic controllers on the tarmac controlling movement.

we had too many a crash in recent times & i dont pray 4 more to happen this year @ all, we are all people ,vip or no vip.

Jakumo:

For me, there would be no greater act of[b] Patriotism [/b] I could perform than to die in a plane crash which resulted from my aircraft running out of fuel after being delayed indefinitely in a holding pattern so as to make way for the arrival of Nigeria's Airforce One and its terminally sick occupant.

As soon as the captain of my plane announced that we are out of fuel and heading down for a certain appointment with a fiery death, I would commence to sing the Nigerian national anthem loudly enough to drown out the futile screamed prayers of all those seated around me, confident in the knowledge that El Presidente would declare all of us aboard the ill-fated plane as heroes whose bereaved families might be eligible for 200 naira compensation after a few decades of air-crash investigations and paperwork in Abuja.

LOL! Of course.

What makes this scenario different from that Navy Rear Admiral's episode on the streets of Lagos? Nothing!

NA gOD GO PONISH THAT your president okay because he they sick that is why he wan to use those people head do risual so that he will survive he willnever survive for that sickness GOD WILL NEVER ANSWER HIS PRAYER AMEN

NA gOD GO PONISH THAT your president okay because he they sick that is why he wan to use those people head do [b] risual [/b]so that he will survive he willnever survive for that sickness GOD WILL NEVER ANSWER HIS PRAYER AMEN

cvibe:

What makes this scenario different from that Navy Rear Admiral's episode on the streets of Lagos? Nothing!

The difference between the recent disciplinary bullwhipping of a female driver by naval ratings guarding a vice-admiral's car in Lagos, on one hand, and the enforced no-land order issued to all aircraft within 100 nautical miles of Nigeria's Airforce One, on the other hand, is with respect to the availability of immediate punitive measures to government officials.

To address this discrepancy in the treatment of misguided civilian enemies of progress who dare obstruct the passage of Nigerian government and military officials, be they on the roads or in the air, an airforce fighter escort of armed F16s must be scrambled to accompany the Presidential Jet at all times, under standing orders to shoot down without warning any civilian aircraft that violate restricted airspace during all "VIP Movement" exercises aloft in Nigeria's friendly skies.   

Ground forces must also be deployed to mop up any disgruntled elements that are cunning enough to bail out of missile-damaged aircraft with parachutes, in a bid to escape justice after their judgement for wantonly delaying the Big Chief's Eagle.

The difference between the recent disciplinary bullwhipping of a female driver by naval ratings guarding a vice-admiral's car in Lagos, on one hand, and the enforced no-land order issued to all aircraft within 100 nautical miles of Nigeria's Airforce One, on the other hand, is with respect to the availability of immediate punitive measures to government officials.

To address this discrepancy in the treatment of misguided civilian enemies of progress who dare obstruct the passage of Nigerian government and military officials, be they on the roads or in the air, an airforce fighter escort of armed F16s must be scrambled to accompany the Presidential Jet at all times, under standing orders to shoot down without warning any civilian aircraft that violate restricted airspace during all "VIP Movement" exercises aloft in Nigeria's friendly skies.

Ground forces must also be deployed to mop up any disgruntled elements that are cunning enough to bail out of missile-damaged aircraft with parachutes, in a bid to escape justice after their judgement for wantonly delaying the Big Chief's Eagle.

Roflmao

So Yardua want us all to die with him

Stories like this, if true, makes it very attractive to go sweep the streets on Bourbon street! My patriotism is wearing out,

God bless Nigeria.

Think of the most backward thing that could happen anywhere in the world. Things that you will not expect to happen somewhere in the most remote parts of the Amazon. Then just assure yourself that it will happen in Nigeria. People had children on that plane. Husbands, wives, parents etc. I just thank God that everyone was okay. Someone will soon come here and talk about how we always bad mouth nigeria.

poster were did u get this your own news from?

we in the aviation sector never heard of such.

i bet u are out to tarnish bellviews image. and e no go work for you

poster were did u get this your own news from?

we in the aviation sector never heard of such.

i bet u are out to tarnish bellviews image. and e no go work for you

O pari

well, the president's security comes first in all cases but what is really wrong with our airspace management, NAMA, FAAN, etc.
in my opinion, not only the passengers should sue these authorities, the airline too should
because with the present high rate of aviation fuel flying the aircraft for about 3hrs is not a small money atall.

our airport authority should have diverted the flight to a nearby airport instead of burning fuel like that, but i think i need to ask, if a domestic flight scheduled for a 45mins - 60mins trip spend 3hrs, then something is wrong somewhere?

because there is no fuel station in the air
and we all know it has a limit to the fuel the aircraft can travel with. there is something wrong somewhere? it appears to me this is exagerration 3hrs

and travelling for 3hrs and some people became unconscious is not really acceptable
but we still need to ask, at what flight level is the pilot?
if people faint at 3hrs journey with nigeria what will happen to those that travel to america direct for close to 12hrs?

thank God it is presidential movement, what if it had been a weather problem
who would have been held responsible?

please lets advice our airspace managers to always seek alternate aerodrome whenever this occurs. and airlines too should note that whenever there is presidential movement, they should remain grounded till the airspace is opened. instead of creating this kind of embarrassment to the passengers and the country.

craziness.

thank God it is presidential movement, what if it had been a weather problem
who would have been held responsible?

Mediocrity is a serious problem among Nigerians.

. . .

It just amazes me how many people on this forum believe this bogus story. Even in the most remote corner of the world the President and visiting heads of state always have the right of Air space around the airport. It's highly impossible to have an aircraft in the air for more than 2 hours after it's reached it's destination without diverting it to another airport.

If the plane was to be on the run-way waiting to be taxied onto the Jet- way then it would totally make sense. Why are we Nigerians so impatient for God sake.

SHENANIGAN:

It just amazes me how many people on this forum believe this bogus story. Even in the most remote corner of the world the President and visiting heads of state always have the right of Air space around the airport. It's highly impossible to have an aircraft in the air for more than 2 hours after it's reached it's destination without diverting it to another airport.

If the plane was to be on the run-way waiting to be taxied onto the Jet- way then it would totally make sense. Why are we Nigerians so impatient for God sake.

You make me wanna scream.
Why do you think it's impossible for a commercial airplane to be diverted and delayed excessively because of presidential movements?
Why do you think the speaker of the house has the right to drive his car on active runways.
Why do yo think many commercial airlines have been delayed numerous times because a governor, senator, or senior army officer is late?
Why do think navy ratings have a right to flog a helpless lady out of their way so that their oga can beat the Lagos traffic
Why do you think a nation of 150 million can't provide electricity to themselves in 2009?
And why do you think airtraffic controllers and presidential airtraffic planners are not capable of screwing up the schedule with the resultant jeopardy of helpless commercial airlines.
I tell you why---- it's because of unprincipled fools like you who refuse to call a spade a spade until they are the ones travelling in those jeopardized aircrafts.

naijaking1:

You make me wanna scream.
Why do you think it's impossible for a commercial airplane to be diverted and delayed excessively because of presidential movements?
Why do you think the speaker of the house has the right to drive his car on active runways.
Why do yo think many commercial airlines have been delayed numerous times because a governor, senator, or senior army officer is late?
Why do think navy ratings have a right to flog a helpless lady out of their way so that their oga can beat the Lagos traffic
Why do you think a nation of 150 million can't provide electricity to themselves in 2009?
And why do you think airtraffic controllers and presidential airtraffic planners are not capable of screwing up the schedule with the resultant jeopardy of helpless commercial airlines.
I tell you why---- it's because of unprincipled fools like you who refuse to call a spade a spade until they are the ones travelling in those jeopardized aircrafts.

I seriously don't get a word you saying, bros pls go back and read my post. Ok now I'm a fool right wow!, well I'll just move on and ignore you because I see we can't even have a simple conversation without you calling names. What's wrong with grown up folks just coming online just to talk and exchange ideas like matured educated people without the name calling like some illiterate market woman. My brother you have a very long way to go.

And please find someone else to unleash your frustrations on, sorry I can't help you.

First, the sensationalism in this story is clear. If the plane left lagos at 12, then and landed at 3, where did the '3 - hour' delay come from?
Secondly, there is no airport in the world where planes are not delayed for a reason. I was once in a BA that was delayed for about 45 mins at Heathrow. All we did, which Im sure Bellview plane in question did, was fly around. And while this was happening, I could see other planes through the window doing the same thing.

My only grouse here is that if actually the delay was up to 2 hours as we are made to believe (1pm expected arrival to 3pm), then Government should please be more sensitive and understand that because of the plane mishaps we've had, Nigerians are more scared of any delay or even the slightest turbulence will make the lilly hearted faint. Whatever it is they want to do at the airport, they should make it quick.

ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!!!

Too bad what if the people that fainted died .it happpened to me during evensong's regime i was going to portharcourt we had to wait till he got to ota.i wasn't happy wit the idea.I think its not a  necessary protocol.

Ilaugh you are funny!if you were travelling to China you definitely know you would not be landing in three hours and so you wouldn't be scared,but travelling to Abuja that you know you should be landing in approximately an hour and then it was taking three hours,please people have the right to faint! knowing this same airline crashed on this same journey 2005 pleasee!

I seriously HATE our leaders in this country!    I really HATE them! They make me hate this country. . . _{hisses sadly while shaking his head}