British Airways flight from London landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja in darkness early yesterday following a generator failure, Daily Trust learnt.
The plane, which was carrying Minister of Agriculture Akinwunmi Adesina and many other passengers, landed safely at about 5.55am, airport officials said.

After the incident, Adesina, believing it was caused by an outage in public power supply, reported the matter to Minister of Power Prof. Barth Nnaji.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Power, Mr. Greyne Anosike, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Adesina had reported the matter to Nnaji.

Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, Deputy General Manager for Public Affairs at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), confirmed the incident. She said because of unstable public power supply, it was the practice of FAAN to switch to generators whenever a plane was landing.

But the generator “tripped off for two minutes” when the BA flight was landing, adding that at that time there was also a power outage from PHCN, Mrs. Yakubu said, quoted by NAN.

Anosike, however, insisted that there was no power outage from PHCN at the time of the incident.

The Minister of Power yesterday said he was launching an investigation.

In a statement in Abuja, Ogbuagu Anikwe, a spokesman for the minister, said

initial findings showed that the power cut was not caused by the PHCN or the Abuja Electric Power Distribution Company as there was electricity supply when the incident occurred.

“The PHCN, indeed, has two supply lines dedicated to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, in recognition of its eminence in the national scheme of things, and there is a standing ministerial instruction that the airport be supplied with electricity at all times once power is available in the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.

Ogbuagwu said the minister was conscious of the implications of the incident on national security and international image and therefore entered into discussions with his counterpart in the aviation ministry on how international airlines and the airport authorities can make fuller use of electricity supply from the PHCN.

Daily Trust gathered that the incident arose from the failure of generators at the airport to supply power at the time the British Airways plane was landing.

Officials say it is a regular practice in Nigeria to rely on generators when international flights are landing because of unpredictability of public power supply.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154417:ba-plane-lands-in-darkness-at-abuja-airport&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

What a shame

whats new?

whats new?

Nigeria is just a big shame.
Power outage in 2012.

^^ bros, are we related? 

@OP

Na today?

The last time i came into the country, shei they cut power supply while we were waiting for our luggage. I nearly stripped nake.d. Naija na serious case-study.

quite a pity

I don't understand this post or why it should be on front page. How can 5:55am in Abuja be in darkness or are we trying to sell ourselves.

@Odiaero

Good for the plane that it is equiped with Night landing system, if not, na divert to another airport if fuel is low, then bad news

Kindly enlighten us on what Night Landing System is about in the plane.

Na today, why is it now strange to them,

whats new

sandee575:



Kindly enlighten us on what Night Landing System is about in the plane.

Simple. Put ILS on UPS. What's the big deal. Equipment do fail. Backup is the response.

@ op,

have u landed in Benin airport @ night b4; some times it happens in PH airport ooo,

thats why i dont like night flight ooo

Last i checked abuja is still part of nigeria.so this is no news to me,the darkness i mean

Power outage at the airport in Nigeria can't be new to them anymore becos is a usual thing.

You guys should cut Naija a slack. Power outages at airports are bad BUT aint new


(i) Power restored at Newark airport after outage disrupts flights - February 7, 2011

Power was restored to parts of Newark Liberty Airport Monday after an outage grounded some flights, affected airport security checkpoints, and stranded passengers on its monorail system.
Twitter-posting travelers reported that cheers were heard as power returned [UP NEPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]   in at least one terminal after being out for over an hour.
Witnesses told WNYW-TV that the power outage occurred around 2:25pm ET, affecting all three of the New York City-area airport's passenger terminals.
The airport's air traffic control tower operated on backup and security checkpoints were out of service except at the C1 and C2 gate areas during the outage.Several passengers took to Twitter to report that their planes were sitting on the runway and not moving. Others posted messages that no security screenings were taking place because of the outage.
The airport's AirTrain shuttle system was brought to a halt, and some cars were stranded between terminals. Crews were waiting to make sure there was no danger from live power before evacuating the trains.
The outage, which was caused by equipment failure at a Public Service Electric & Gas Company switching station in Elizabeth, N.J., affected nearly 20,000 customers.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/partial_power_outage_at_newark_airport_Cvqkz2civ7egfJytcUZBFM#ixzz1lyVWBkAf


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/partial_power_outage_at_newark_airport_Cvqkz2civ7egfJytcUZBFM#ixzz1lyVDlCITRead more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/partial_power_outage_at_newark_airport_Cvqkz2civ7egfJytcUZBFM#ixzz1lyUug9OH

(ii) Generator fails during power outage at airport, prevents landing  in McKinleyville, USA 2010

A power outage in McKinleyville darkened the Arcata/Eureka Airport terminal Wednesday night and turned an inbound flight back to Redding.
Humboldt County Airports Manager Jacqueline Hulsey said that she got a call at about 11 p.m. saying that the terminal's lights were out.
The few people in the terminal were evacuated, she said.
The airport facility has three emergency generators, but one blew its engine block heater, Hulsey said. That generator also handles the system that allows an inbound pilot to illuminate the runway lights, which the crew had to then do from the ground, she said. The glitch caused one Horizon flight from Redding to turn around, which meant the plane was not available in Arcata/Eureka for its outbound 6 a.m. flight, Hulsey said.
The problem with the generator was fixed within about three hours, she said.A power outage in McKinleyville darkened the Arcata/Eureka Airport terminal Wednesday night and turned an inbound flight back to Redding.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/eureka-ca/T5MEV64UFRINFFOCO

(iii) Cleveland (USA) airport power outage grounds flights - 2010

A power outage at Cleveland's Hopkins International Airport on Sunday led U.S. airlines including Continental Airlines Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and Southwest Airlines to temporarily suspend operations there.

Continental said in a statement that it was suspending operations until 6 p.m. EST. A spokeswoman from Delta said it was suspending operations until 3 PM, at which time it would reevaluate conditions at the airport. A spokeswoman for Southwest said that airline did not yet have a definite time for resuming its operations.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/10/us-airlines-cleveland-idUSTRE6091N520100110

(iv) Reagan National Airport Power Outage: Electricity Failure Grounds Flights, Causes Delays -USA

A Reagan National Airport power outage is causing delays and has flights grounded for the time being today, Jan. 4, 2010.

Power reportedly went out shortly after noon on Monday, WTOP reports. All flights have been temporarily suspended, but some planes are able to land due to a backup power supply at the air control tower.

Security checks are also being halted due to the power outage.

Dominion Power is working to address the problem.

This is not the first time Reagan National Airport has been affected by a power outage. A similar incident took place in April 2000.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/reagan-national-airport-p_n_410632.html

really "WHAT'S NEW"
@ least no life lost.
unlike what was usu. d case during Obasanjo's Adminstratn.
where flight alwaz xperince mishap that'l claim lives.

Would this have elicited any response if the plane wasn't carrying the Minister of Agriculture?

dejust:

I don't understand this post or why it should be on front page. How can 5:55am in Abuja be in darkness or are we trying to sell ourselves.

Night is 15minutes after sunset to 15minutes b4 sunrise, if the sun is not out then by meteorological definition its still night and landing lights must be on. As a matter of fact an incident report will be made because an aircraft cannot land at that hour without a lighting facility at the airport. The aircraft is probably equipped and was flying IFR.

only for 9ja

And whats the big deal about that abegii, next story.

Its not new

femmy2010:

Only in 9ja.

You obviously didn't see the links posted by goggs:

(ii) Generator fails during power outage at airport, prevents landing in McKinleyville, USA 2010
(i) Power restored at Newark airport after outage disrupts flights - February 7, 2011
(iv) Reagan National Airport Power Outage: Electricity Failure Grounds Flights, Causes Delays -USA

but of course this does not attenuate the seriousness of the situation--power outage in an airport is the perfect condition for a catastrophe.

i try my darnest not to travel at nite.

This is no S.W.E.N

We thank God for everything

:-x :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x :-x god pls help your children!

I guess it was another plan to kill that minister. The Nigerian men are evil, especially those in position of authority. Thank God they failed in that plot.