Liberian President’s private jet incident disrupts flights at Monrovia airport

The aircraft, returning from ECOWAS’ 50th anniversary celebration in Nigeria, blew a tire upon landing, forcing an abrupt stop on RIA’s only operational runway. No injuries were reported, but the incident caused widespread alarm and suspended all inbound and outbound flights,

“We are aware that one of the aircraft’s tires burst upon landing, prompting a precautionary stop on the runway. Preliminary investigations suggest that the poor state of the runway, specifically the presence of potholes, may have contributed to the malfunction,” RIA management is quoted.

Major carriers, including Kenya Airways and Air Peace canceled scheduled landings in Monrovia due to the blocked runway. As of Thursday night, airport authorities had yet to provide a timeline for clearing the immobilised jet, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded.

An anonymous airport source told the Daily Observer, “The aircraft came to a complete stop and could not move any further. It caused a scare among passengers, including the president’s team.”

Emergency response teams evacuated President Boakai via motorcade, while other officials were transported off the runway using airport vehicles.

However, the Liberia Airport Authority later disputed that operations had fully ceased or that infrastructure issues were to blame.

Source: globalsouthworld.com