Asaba Aircraft Incident: NSIB Blames Crew’s Loss of Situational Awareness

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has disclosed new details about the aircraft that mistakenly landed on a road under construction near Asaba Airport last month, revealing that the flight crew had abandoned their initial landing attempt before repositioning for a second approach shortly before the incident.

The findings are contained in the Bureau’s preliminary investigation report released on Friday into the June 10, 2026 occurrence involving a Bombardier Challenger 601-3A aircraft, registered N989BC and operated by VMO Aero Limited.

According to the NSIB, the aircraft was operating an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, to Asaba when it failed to land on Runway 11 and instead touched down on a paved road under construction close to the airport.

The report stated that the flight crew had initially discontinued their first approach before repositioning for another attempt on Runway 11. During the second approach, the pilots reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly aligned with the published RNAV approach for the runway.

Despite those indications, the aircraft landed on the nearby construction road instead of the designated runway.

There were seven people on board, comprising four crew members and three passengers, and no injuries were reported.

Following the unexpected landing, the aircraft was shut down and inspected before passengers safely disembarked. It was later returned to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos without any further reported operational issues.

However, a post-flight inspection revealed damage to the aircraft’s left nose-wheel assembly.

In the report signed by the NSIB’s Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Mrs. Funke Adebayo-Arowojobe, the Bureau said investigators have reviewed evidence gathered from the flight crew, eyewitnesses, air traffic control records, operational documents and a physical examination of the aircraft.

The agency also confirmed that the aircraft’s Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were successfully recovered and analysed at the NSIB Transport Safety Laboratory in Abuja.

The Bureau stressed that the report is preliminary and that technical examinations and further analysis are still ongoing to determine the factors that led to the aircraft landing on a construction road instead of the runway at Asaba Airport.