HARBEL, MARGIBI COUNTY – The Management of the Roberts International Airport (RIA) has taken “full responsibility” for the scared incident that happened to the flight that brought home President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and entourage from Nigeria on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
The airport management’s official response, reads: “The Management of Roberts International Airport (RIA) acknowledges the recent incident involving the private jet returning President Joseph Boakai and his entourage on Thursday. We are aware that one of the aircraft’s tires burst upon landing, prompting a precautionary stop on the runway.”
According to the RIA management team, “Preliminary investigations suggest that the incident may have been caused by the poor state of our runway, specifically the presence of potholes. We take full responsibility for the condition of our infrastructure and assure the public that we are taking immediate action to rectify the situation.”
They went on to say, apparently to safe face, that the safety and security of their passengers and aircraft are their “top priority.”
“We are working diligently to repair and maintain our runway to prevent such incidents in the future. We apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused, particularly to the President and his delegation, as well as to other grounded aircraft and those diverted due to this incident. We are committed to providing a safe and efficient travel experience for all users of RIA.
There are reports that Kenya Airways, Air Peace, and other flights that were scheduled to land in Monrovia on Thursday, May 29, cancelled their scheduled landings. This came as the management jumbled to get things back to normalcy as the incident had caused a bad public relation for the airport and placed the management in bad rapport with the President. As far as The Liberian Post (TLP) is concerned, the Office of the President is yet to make a determination into the incident. Presidential aides informed the TLP that the President was visibly embarrassed about this incident, which could have ended up unfortunately.
RIA sources had informed this news outlet that when the President and entourage had disembarked from the stranded plane whose one of the tires’ landing gears, had developed malfunction, engineers immediately began to find solution to the problem. “The airport has been closed until 12 midday Friday, May 30,” one of our sources disclosed to the TLP.
“We appreciate the professionalism and quick response of our emergency services and the aircraft’s crew in ensuring the safety of all on board. We are grateful that no one was harmed during the incident.
“RIA will continue to work tirelessly to improve its facilities and services to meet international standards. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work to resolve this matter.”
Few hours after this statement was released, another statement was released again by the airport authorities. Among other things, they informed the public that they had successfully removed the stranded plane from the runway and that normal activities or operations of the airport had resumed.
Before the President left the airport, he met with waiting journalists briefly.
