Scare at Liberia’s Roberts International Airport as President Boakai’s Plane Suffers Tire Failure

Roberts International Airport in Liberia faced a scare on Thursday evening when the presidential jet carrying President Joseph Boakai experienced a tire failure during landing. The aircraft came to an abrupt stop on the runway, triggering panic and forcing the cancellation of all flights for the night.

The jet, which had just returned from Nigeria where President Boakai attended the ECOWAS 50th anniversary, was stranded on the runway until it could be manually towed away. The Liberia Airport Authority confirmed the safe evacuation of the President and his delegation and denied that runway conditions were responsible for the incident.

Several airlines, including Kenya Airways and Air Peace, canceled their flights following the incident, leaving passengers stranded. The LAA has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the tire blowout and pledged to keep the public informed.

President Boakai later spoke briefly to journalists upon arrival but did not mention the landing scare.