Fifty Three passengers on board Aero aircraft flying from Port Harcourt to Lagos yesterday escaped death by the grace of God, when smoke suddenly emerged from the cargo area of flight NG316 causing panic and on board by the highly frightened passengers.

The airline that has been struggling for survival after the takeover by AMCON, who was recently accused of cannibalising one aircraft to repair the other, is facing a serious challenge due to very low patronage.

A source, who spoke to Newscorner.com.ng on the condition of anonymity, said that passengers were into state of intense panic praying for God to intervene when the smoke from the cargo section took over the entire cabin.

Some passengers were said to have rushed to the toilet but were forced to rush back as they could not withstand the smoke.

An amateur video taken by one of the passengers showed vividly what transpired on board the troubled Port Harcourt –Lagos flight.

In a statement issued in Lagos, the media consultant to Aero, Mr. Simon Tumba of SY&T Communications confirmed the incident saying the smoke came from the baggage compartment.

“Preliminary reports have it that at 1645 GMT about 75NM to Lagos at 24,00 feet, the cabin crew observed that the cabin was misty. This was reported to the Captain, who briefed the passengers accordingly assuring them of a safe landing in Lagos in a couple of minutes.

“Expectedly as announced by the pilot, normal descent was initiated into Lagos.  While descending however, the cabin crew again reported this incident to the Captain and by this time the smoke was getting denser in the cabin.

“Ready and armed with “Aft Cargo Smoke” indication in the flight deck, the crew carried out the smoke dispersal procedures and contacted air traffic control at 1655GMT, requesting for emergency support services and proceeded to Lagos, which is the airport with the full complement of emergency support.

“The Captain also announced to the passengers to be calm as the smoke in question did not present any irritation or discomfort. The aircraft landed at 1703 GMT without any incident.

Tumba said the chief executive officer of the airline, Capt. Ado Sanusi, “has ordered for full scale investigation into the incident.”

He added: “Although the company engineers had carried out the routine systems checks, and reported all normal, Capt. Sanusi who has also reported the incident to the appropriate authorities in the country said another round of thorough investigation was ongoing.

“But the management of Aero said it regrets any inconveniences the incident might have caused its esteemed passengers and assured it will get to the root cause of the matter,” said SY&T.