Liberian President's jet in runway scare amid tyre failure
A private plane carrying Liberian President Joseph Boakai experienced a significant malfunction while landing at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia on Thursday. A tyre burst, causing the plane to spin and come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the runway.
What do you need to know?
- What happened? During the landing of the private plane with Liberian President Joseph Boakai on board, a tyre burst.
- What were the consequences? The airport was closed, and all three flights scheduled for that day were cancelled. The airport management ruled out the poor condition of the runway as the cause of the incident.
- What are the airport's previous issues? Previously, Monrovia's airport had technical problems which led some airlines, including Brussels Airlines, to suspend their flights.
Dangerous incident on the runway
On Thursday evening, during the landing of the plane with Liberian President Joseph Boakai on board, a dangerous incident took place. The plane's tyre burst, causing the aircraft to come to an abrupt stop on the runway.
Although no one was injured, the airport was closed, and all three flights scheduled for that day were cancelled.
This is not the first incident at this airport
On Friday, the Liberian Airport Authority (LAA) dismissed media suggestions that the incident was caused by the poor condition of the runway.The management stated that this event was solely caused by a mechanical failure related to the aircraft's tyre, not by any structural defect of the runway.
In August of the previous year, a Royal Air Maroc plane narrowly avoided disaster at the same airport when one wheel missed the runway during landing and ended up on a muddy shoulder. The plane damaged several of the sparse lights illuminating the runway, but the pilot did not report this to the control tower and allowed passengers to calmly proceed to the terminal. The issue came to light during the departure, which was scheduled for 8 AM GMT. It was difficult to conceal the lack of lighting.
In mid-2022, Brussels Airlines suspended flights to Monrovia due to the poor technical condition of the airport and its equipment. They resumed operations only after the LAA confirmed that problems related to the airport's navigation systems had been resolved in accordance with international standards. For similar reasons, French airlines previously ceased operations on the route connecting Europe with Liberia.
An airport where NASA shuttles were supposed to land
Brussels Airlines currently are the only airline offering direct flights to Europe from Monrovia, even though, before the 1989-2003 civil war, the country had direct connections with Paris, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zurich, and New York.
The airport was managed by Pan American World Airways until 1989, for whom Monrovia was a major African hub. In the 1980s, it was even considered as a potential landing site for NASA space shuttles.
