‘Sick pilot’: Passengers stranded as Max Air delays Lagos-Kano flight for over 7 hours

Passengers are currently stranded at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos after a Max Air flight did not take off as scheduled.

TheCable understands that the Max Air flight ADJW7G was supposed to leave Lagos for Kano by 5:20pm on Wednesday. 

According to Aliyu Muhmeen, one of the stranded passengers who spoke to TheCable, the flight was rescheduled to 10pm from the initial flying time based on “logistics”.

After waiting for another two hours, at some minutes past 12am on Thursday, Muhmeen said he and three other passengers approached the Max Air counter to know the state of the flight, but were told the pilot was “tired and feeling sick”. 

“We approached the counter and this man (a Max Air staff member) told me the pilot is feeling sick and could not fly again,” he said.

“We have been here waiting since 3pm so as to fly by 5pm. That’s more than seven hours.”

Muhmeen added that the stranded passengers were more than 60, and included children and women. 

Many of the stranded passengers are said to be Muslim faithful who are fasting, while some had made plans to join an international flight at the Kano airport for lesser hajj.

Protesting the delay, the passengers asked that the airline refund them or lodge them in a hotel, and make plans to fly them to their destination on Thursday morning.

But as of the time of filing this report, the situation was yet to be resolved and some of the passengers have resorted to sleeping on the metal chairs in the waiting area.