A Max Air commercial flight with 113 passengers and 6 crew members onboard experienced a total failure of its rear landing gear during takeoff at Yola Airport.
The Boeing 737-300, identified by tail number 5N-ADB, was departing Yola Airport for Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja when all rear landing gear tires burst on the runway.
According to sources, as reported by westafricaweek.com, all 119 people onboard were safely evacuated, leaving the disabled aircraft stranded on the runway.
Data from Planespotters indicates that the 25-year-old Boeing 737-300 was in long-term storage in Lagos from December 25, 2022, until it returned to service on May 7, 2024.
A source at the accident site told West Africa Weekly that the aircraft’s rear landing tires burst, rendering the runway temporarily unusable.
It is worth noting that West Africa Weekly previously reported a series of high-profile safety incidents involving Max Air, which led to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounding the airline’s Boeing 737 fleet.
Despite an audit revealing 48 major safety and maintenance infractions, the airline was later allowed to resume 737 operations.