Although nothing happened to anyone, the airport was closed and all three flights planned for this day were canceled.
On Friday, the management of the Liberian airport (LAA) rejected suggestions appearing in the press that the incident was caused by the poor state of the runway. “This event was caused exclusively by a mechanical failure related to the aircraft tire, and not any structural defect of the runway,” the board wrote in the statement.
Problems of the airport in Monrowia
In August last year, at the same airport, the Royal Air Maroc aircraft avoided a disaster when one wheel did not fit during the landing and was on the muddy side. The aircraft damaged a few of the few lamps illuminating the runway, but the pilot did not report this control tower and allowed passengers to easily go to the airport building. The case seemed at the departure, which was to take place at three o'clock in the morning. It was difficult to hide the lack of lighting.
In mid -2022, Brussels Airlines suspended flights to Monrowia due to the poor technical condition of the airport and its equipment. They resumed them only when Laa confirmed that problems related to airport navigation systems were removed in accordance with international standards. For the same reason, the French airlines gave up the route connecting Europe with Liberia.
Brussels Airlines are currently the only lines flying directly to Europe from Monrovia, although before the civil war from 1989-2003 this country had a direct connection with Paris, London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Zurich and New York.
Until 1989, the airport was managed by Mr. American World Airways, for whom Monrowia was the main African communication node. In the 1980s, it was even taken into account as a possible landing site for NASA space shuttle.
