FLIGHT ABORTED AFTER HYDRAULICS MALFUNCTION

UNCLAS LAGOS 000268 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS FAA FOR AHARRIS, TRANSPORTATION FOR FAA; DAKAR PLEASE PASS TO FAA REP MOIRA KEANE; ROME PLEASE PASS TO TSA REP JOHN HALINSKI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR EINV PREL NI SUBJECT: FLIGHT ABORTED AFTER HYDRAULICS MALFUNCTION ¶1. On April 11, a Virgin Nigeria flight departing Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos was aborted shortly after take-off when the flight captain detected a malfunction in the hydraulic nose wheel of the aircraft. Although many of the passengers panicked the aircraft landed safely. ¶2. Bismarck Rewane, Virgin Nigeria board member, had spoken with Virgin Nigeria Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Conrad Clifford about the incident. Clifford described two accounts of what had transpired. In the first account, some passengers claimed to have seen fire coming from one of the aircraft's engines after the aircraft landed. They began shouting, which provoked a panic. In the second account, some passengers claimed to have seen an aircraft approaching the Virgin Nigeria plane on the runway and began shouting. The flight captain and crew subsequently disembarked the passengers. ¶3. Rewane confirmed that one passenger suffered minor bruising as a result of the episode. He said Virgin Nigeria would distribute a public statement regarding this incident later today. Aviation contacts affirmed incidents involving minor hydraulic malfunctions are common and not in themselves a cause for concern. BROWNE