PeakNews Online
Yola, Nigeria – A Max Air Boeing 737, flight NGL1649, with 119 passengers and six crew members onboard, experienced a tyre burst shortly before takeoff from Yola Airport en route to Abuja on Sunday evening. The incident was confirmed by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
According to a statement released by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the NSIB, Bimbo Oladeji, the aircraft’s rear gear tyres burst during the takeoff roll. Initially, two tyres burst, followed by the rupture of the remaining two tyres while attempting to taxi off the runway, rendering the aircraft immobile.
“No injuries or fatalities were reported in the incident,” Oladeji stated. “A go-team, led by NSIB Director General Captain Alex Badeh Jr., will visit the incident site tomorrow morning to conduct a thorough investigation.”
The incident follows a similar occurrence involving the same airline in 2023. An NSIB report from that year indicted Max Air for overwriting the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of a serious incident that took place on May 7, 2023, during landing at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The report also accused the airline of disregarding the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority’s All Operators Letter concerning the continuous overwriting of CVR information.
In the 2023 incident, an aircraft belonging to Max Air had departed Abuja for Yola as flight NGL1648 and, upon landing, was on the ground in Yola for about 30 minutes before the turnaround for Abuja. After takeoff, the landing gear was left extended for three minutes to allow cooling due to high ground temperatures at Yola Airport. At 2:08 p.m., Nigerian Air Force personnel reported to Yola Control Tower that an object resembling a tyre had fallen from the departing aircraft.
The NSIB investigation into the latest incident aims to determine the cause of the tyre bursts and ensure the continued safety of air travel in Nigeria.
