A United Nigeria Airlines flight that was supposed to fly from Lagos to Abuja on Saturday ended up landing in Asaba, the capital of Delta state, due to a pilot’s error.
The passengers on the flight were shocked and confused when they heard the cabin crew announce “Welcome to Abuja” after landing in Asaba. They realized the mistake when they looked out of the windows and saw a different city.
“We departed Lagos about an hour ago on Fly United to Abuja and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we have arrived in Abuja only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba,” Salihu Yakasai, the Kano governorship candidate of Peoples’ Redemption Party in the 2023 election, wrote on his X page.
The pilot later explained that he had received a wrong flight plan from the airline and apologized for the “honest mistake”. He said that the flight would be redirected to Abuja as soon as possible.
“People were thinking that there’s something we were not being told. Until the pilot announced to us that he received a wrong flight plan, that’s when calmness was restored,” a passenger on the flight told TheCable.
However, the airline gave a different account of the incident and claimed that the flight was diverted to Asaba because of bad weather in Abuja. The airline spokesperson, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, said that the pilot was properly briefed about the diversion and that the cabin crew made a wrong announcement that caused confusion among the passengers.
“A united Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM2 in Lagos enroute Abuja on Sunday, November 26, 2023, was temporarily diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather,” the statement reads.
“At all material time, the Pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed. However, a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba creating confusion among the passengers.”
