Following widespread panic and circulating survivor accounts, the Chief Executive Officer and Accountable Manager of Enugu Air, Captain Tolu Ita, has released an official video statement addressing Thursday’s incident at Benin Airport!
Speaking on the airline’s official channels, Capt. Ita directly debunked claims that the aircraft crashed or suffered an emergency landing, providing a technical breakdown of what actually transpired on the tarmac.
Capt. Ita explained that after Flight 4264 from Lagos touched down, the aircraft experienced hydroplaning due to heavy standing water on the runway, causing it to undergo a “runway excursion” (skidding off the paved surface into the mud) during its landing roll.
She emphasized that the event was technically classified as a “serious incident” rather than a crash landing or mid-air emergency, reassuring the public that the aircraft landed normally before losing traction on the ground.
She officially confirmed that all 63 passengers and 5 crew members safely disembarked the Embraer E170 without a single injury or casualty.
Enugu Air is cooperating fully with the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) and aviation regulators to establish the complete facts surrounding the runway conditions and landing parameters.
While aviation authorities use precise terms like “runway excursion due to hydroplaning” to explain the mechanics, many passengers inside the cabin described the experience as a terrifying crash-landing as the plane veered wildly into the bush.