On Wednesday, December 11th, an Allied Air Cargo freighter aircraft overran the runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (ABV) in Abuja, Nigeria. The aircraft allegedly experienced a failure in its landing gear, which caused the eventual runway excursion during the landing. The aircraft in question was a Boeing 737-400 freighter operated by Allied Air, a cargo airline based in Lagos, Nigeria.

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The aircraft originally reported a flaps problem as it was descending.

Posts 23 Runway excursion in Abuja, Nigeria

According to multiple sources, a Boeing 737 freighter operated by Allied Air overran the main runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (ABV) in Abuja, Nigeria. The aircraft was descending to the main runway of the Abuja airport, which is an 11,844 foot-long runway made of asphalt, at approximately 10:00 local time. At approximately 10:05 local time, the aircraft touched down on the runway. According to Daily Post Nigeria, after it landed the aircraft suffered a landing gear failure.

The landing gear failure caused the aircraft to overrun the main runway at the Abuja airport. Emergency crews immediately responded to the aircraft and evacuated all crew members on the aircraft. There were five crew members on the aircraft and all were safely evacuated.

Additionally, the incident caused significant disruptions to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Many departures were delayed, and several arriving aircraft were forced to divert to nearby airports. The runway was cleared after approximately six hours, clearing the way for aircraft to begin departing from the runway.

According to a spokesperson from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),

"At 10:05 am on December 11, 2024, an Allied Air Cargo aircraft with registration number 5N-JRT skidded off Runway 22 at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja with five souls on board with no reported injury. They were all safely evacuated and taken to the FAN clinic for further checks."

About the aircraft involved in the runway excursion

The aircraft in question is a Boeing 737-400 freighter aircraft owned and operated by Allied Air, a cargo airline based in Lagos, Nigeria. The aircraft is registered as 5N-JRT. According to ch-aviation, this aircraft was first built in 1991, making the aircraft just over 31 years old. The aircraft was first delivered to Air Berlin in March 1993. It was owned by several other airlines over the years, including spurts with the following airlines:

Pegasus Airlines from April 1998 to December 2000 Philippine Airlines from February 2001 to February 2006 Ukraine International Airlines from February 2006 through October 2010 Nok Air from December 2010 to December 2012

Allied Air took over the aircraft for cargo operations in April 2014. It has been flying the aircraft since.

The Boeing 737 is a popular aircraft for cargo operations. The Boeing 737-400 finds itself in cargo operations around the world, as many airlines have replaced these aircraft with newer variants of narrowbody aircraft. The 737-400 falls into the second generation of the Boeing 737, which was introduced in 1984. These aircraft utilize the CFM International CFM56 turbofan engine, which provides the aircraft with over 20,000 pounds of thrust each.