Fly2Sky A320 Bound for Abuja Lands in Asaba Due to Miscommunication

A Fly2Sky Airbus A320-200 on Nov. 26, operating on behalf of United Nigeria Airlines with registration LZ-FSA, experienced an unusual incident during its flight from Lagos to Abuja, Nigeria. The aircraft, designated as flight UN-504, took off from Lagos’ runway 18L but deviated from its intended path, heading east toward Asaba (Nigeria) instead of the northeast route toward Abuja. It eventually landed on Asaba’s runway 11, approximately 47 minutes after departure.

Passengers on board were in for a surprise when the cabin crew announced their arrival in Abuja, only to discover that they had touched down in Asaba, which is located about 160 nautical miles south of Abuja.

According to the airline, the diversion to Asaba was attributed to adverse weather conditions in Abuja, coupled with a miscommunication issue between the Nigerian cabin crew and the Bulgarian flight crew due to language barriers, resulting in an erroneous announcement of their arrival in Abuja. Subsequently, the aircraft continued its journey to Abuja.

However, Air Traffic Controllers in Abuja contradicted the airline’s explanation, stating that the weather had been favorable throughout the day.

In response to the incident, Nigeria’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) initiated an investigation. The DGCA not only grounded the Fly2Sky aircraft, which was leased out to United Nigerian Airlines but also suspended the flight crew pending the outcome of the investigation. The DGCA deemed the airline’s explanation “unacceptable.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation offered further insights into the incident, explaining, “There was no weather problem in Abuja yesterday. It was a problem of a wet-lease plane where the pilot and crew were all foreigners, not Nigerians, so they were not familiar with the Nigerian terrain. From the transcript, we heard that the tower kept asking the pilot to confirm again that they were heading to Abuja, not Asaba, and the pilot replied, ‘No, Asaba.’ Before takeoff, the tower asked again, and the response remained the same.”

Local media reports suggest that confusion arose between two flights, UN-504 to Abuja and UN-506 to Asaba, both departing around the same time. The flight crew was provided with the flight plan for Asaba instead of Abuja, contributing to the mix-up.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, avherald.com