ValueJet confirms runway incident at Port Harcourt airport

ValueJet, one of Nigeria’s burgeoning airlines, has confirmed an incident involving one its aircraft – CRJ 900 Bombardier with registration number 5N-BXR, which reportedly skidded off the runway after landing safely at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

In a statement made available to TW, the airline said the incident happened at 3:30 pm (local time), and the aircraft was since cleared off the runway as there was no damage to passengers on board.

The airline explained that the incident was caused by “algae on the taxiway which made it unable to maintain the centre line.”

The statement: “ValueJet aircraft slipped off taxi turn after it landed safely and cleared off the runway at Port Harcourt airport. 

“The CRJ 900 Bombardier aircraft with registration 5N-BXR landed safely with passengers wondering what could have happened because the airplane landed safely without difficulty.

“The minor incident happened at about 3:30 pm at the Port-Harcourt International Airport. No damage to the aircraft.

“Captain Stanley Balami reported that the aircraft encountered a slip due to algae on the taxi-way which made it unable to maintain the centre line.

“ValueJet remains a safe airline and all the airline’s operations are normal without glitch.”