A nigerian daily carried this:
A LUFTHANSA aircraft yesterday, skidded off the Murtala Muhammed Airport runway, after its front tyres burst due to some pot -holes on the only functional runway of the airport.
The aircraft's front tyres were said to have burst shortly after touch down on the runway 18L, forcing it to skid off the only functional runway.
The runway was closed for about an hour before it was removed from the spot of the incident.
The aircraft, an A330-300 from Frankfurt was en route Lagos and Accra, Ghana.
The airline while manouvering destroyed some navigation equipment around the airfield.
Lufthansa yesterday in Lagos confirmed the incident stating that the incident caused a damage to the aircraft, which ultimately grounded it.
According to Mr Kayode Olaniyan, the airline's spokesman in Nigeria who spoke with The Guardian on phone 'Lufthansa flight Number 564 from Frankfurt landed safely in Lagos this evening. As it was moving to the gate a damage occurred to the aircraft. This will require that Lufthansa technicians come from Germany to repair the damage. Nobody was injured and an alternative arrangement has been made for all the passengers flying to Accra to take them to their destination.'
Olaniyan who declined to explain the nature of damage to the aircraft said 'I cannot speculate on the extent of the damage until the technicians come to examine the aircraft.'
A source, who went to the scene said the incident happened around the area rainwater normally gather, which he said has caused a big pothole in the middle of the runway.
He said although the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had patched the spot, it was not properly done adding that the incident occurred between exit three and four of the runway.
A source said the control tower was already alerting pilots on the part of the runway that was bad although the source added that FAAN had quickly patched the pot-hole.
This brings to four the number of near air mishap that has occurred in less than two months. Two domestic airlines' aircraft and foreign cargo plane have overrun the runway within the last two months resulting in closure of the runway for hours.
The state of the Lagos runway has become a serious concern to operators and pilots who have insisted that unless urgent action is taken sometyhing more serious may occur.
Penultimate week, an Air France aircraft with 196 passengers on board ran into a herd of cows on touch down at the runway of the Port Harcourt International Airport. The airport was closed for about eight hours.
A domestic operator, however, faulted the fire brigade approach of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) adding that pilots are not magicians. FAAN has been accused of collecting huge fees from the users without adequate maintenace of its facilities.
Meanwhile, South African Airways said it had suspended all international flights because of a strike by its cabin crew and ground staff that began on Friday morning.
It called on passengers to postpone their travel plans or make alternative arrangements.