The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has revealed that the private jet which mistakenly landed on a construction road near Asaba Airport had aborted its initial landing attempt before repositioning for a second approach, leading to the incident.
In its preliminary report released on Friday, the NSIB said the Bombardier Challenger 601-3A aircraft, operated by VMO Aero Limited, was flying from Lagos to Asaba on June 10, 2026, when the incident occurred.
According to the bureau, the flight crew believed the aircraft was correctly aligned with the RNAV Runway 11 approach, but instead landed on a paved road under construction close to the airport.
The aircraft was carrying seven occupants — four crew members and three passengers — and no injuries were reported.
Following the landing, passengers safely disembarked before the aircraft later departed the construction road and flew back to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. A post-flight inspection, however, revealed damage to the aircraft’s left nose-wheel assembly.
The NSIB said investigators have retrieved and analysed the aircraft’s Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), while technical examinations and further investigations are still ongoing.
Earlier, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed that the aircraft did not suffer any mechanical failure but mistakenly landed on a road the pilots believed was the airport runway.
“They saw a beautiful road there that looked like a runway and landed there,” Keyamo said.
The minister added that the incident has now become a national security concern, with the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies investigating the circumstances surrounding the unusual landing.
Source: Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
