Air Peace has challenged Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) over its claim that pilots involved in the Port Harcourt runway excursion tested positive for alcohol.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a statement released on Friday, the airline said it has not received any official communication from NSIB regarding its findings more than a month after the July 13 incident, during which an aircraft with registration 5N-BQQ veered off Runway 21 after landing from Lagos.
On Thursday, NSIB reported that the pilot and co-pilot tested positive for alcohol, while a cabin crew member tested positive for a drug.
However, Air Peace dismissed the report, stressing that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and drug use and regularly tests its crew.
It said, “To date, we have never received any official communications from the NSIB on such findings over a month after the incident and after the testing of the crew for alcohol which took place in less than an hour of the incident.”
The carrier noted that the captain of the affected flight was grounded, not for alcohol use, but for failing to follow crew resource management (CRM) procedures and ignoring the co-pilot’s call for a go-around.
It added that the first officer, who requested the go-around, was cleared by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and has since returned to duty.
The airline said, “If he was involved in drug or alcohol use, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority would not have cleared him to resume flight duties.”
Air Peace further said that if the captain indeed tested positive, it would increase the frequency of its drug and alcohol screenings.
It emphasised that enhanced CRM training remains crucial and vowed to intensify crew monitoring and fitness-for-duty checks.
Reiterating its commitment to global best practices, the airline reassured the public that passenger safety remains its top priority.
