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| Air Peace |
Air Peace has disagreed with the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), over allegations of unreported incidents and accidents by the airline, describing it as a misrepresentation of facts.
The Bureau, saddled with the primary function of unraveling the cause of incidents and accidents to avert a reoccurrence, alleged that the airline had formed the habit of non-disclosure contrary to provisions of aviation regulations.
The management explained that on the night of May 15, 2019, an Air Peace Boeing 737-300 with registration number 5N-BUK made a hard landing in Lagos on account of sudden change in weather at the point of touch down.
“However, the AIB grossly misrepresented the facts when it alluded that the airline only reported the incident, after the Bureau’s team visited its corporate headquarters in Lagos on June 6, 2019, which was about three weeks after the incident.
“Contrary to the press statement issued by the AIB, Air Peace duly notified the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) of the incident on May 16, 2019, before it followed up with a written communication and subsequently filed a Mandatory Occurrence Report (MOR) on May 17, 2019, with reference number APL/QM/279/19.
“The said MOR filed by the airline was received and signed for by the NCAA on the same date. The airline complied with the statutory time-lime for the filing of MOR,” the airline stated.
Air Peace added that it was still in shock over alleged “deliberate misrepresentation of facts” by the AIB, and questioned the motive behind the press statement.
The airline queried: “Was the press statement intended to scare the flying public against an airline that has consistently demonstrated zero tolerance for unsafe practices?”
The airline also expressed surprise at AIB’s revisit of the incident, which occurred on December 14, 2018, en route Enugu Airport, during which oxygen masks were automatically deployed as a result of change in cabin pressure. The airline said matters related masks dropping during flight is not peculiar to Air Peace, but common to airlines the world over.
