United Nigeria Airlines offer conflicting reasons why Abuja bound aircraft landed in Asaba

–Airline blames bad weather while pilot said he was given wrong flight plan 

Our reporter/ United Nigeria Airlines on Sunday blamed bad weather as it struggled to explain why one its flight destined for Abuja on Saturday landed in Asaba, the capital of Delta state.

Passengers on the flight took to social over the weekend to narrate their ordeal.

According to them, they only realised the mistake after the cabin crew announced “Welcome to Abuja” when they landed in Asaba.

“We departed Lagos about an hour ago on Fly United to Abuja and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we have arrived in Abuja only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba,” one of the passengers, Salihu Yakasai, wrote on his X page (formerly known as Twitter).

Another passenger with the name peacock @dawisu also wrote, “Nigeria my country. We departed Lagos about an hour ago on
@flyunitedng to Abuja, and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we’ve arrived Abuja, only for us to realize that we landed in Asaba. Apparently, our pilot was given wrong flight plan from Lagos”.

The pilot later informed the bemused passengers the mistake was caused by a mix-up in the flight plan given to him.

“People were thinking that there’s something we were not being told. Until the pilot announced to us that he received a wrong flight plan, that’s when calmness was restored,” a passenger on the flight told an online publication.

However, in a statement on Sunday the airline claimed the flight was diverted to Asaba as a result of bad weather.

According to a statement by the airline spokesman, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, the pilot was properly briefed about the diversion, noting that the cabin crew made “wrong announcement upon landing safely in Asaba [and] created confusion among the passengers.”

“A united Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM2 in Lagos enroute Abuja on Sunday, November 26, 2023, was temporarily diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather,” the statement reads.

“At all material time, the Pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed. However, a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba creating confusion among the passengers.”