* There was no crash, AIB, NCAA attest
The management of Air Peace has clarified the incident at the Ilorin Airport at the weekend, saying none of its aircraft was involved in a crash.
The airline made the announcement in response to reports that its Abuja/Ilorin aircraft, a Boeing 737-500 marked 5N-BQR crashed in Ilorin on Friday, around 10am.
The airline declared in a statement thus: “For the records, no such thing happened. The reports misrepresented and exaggerated the facts. We can confirm that the aircraft in question landed safely but had a minimal tyre burst while taxing. This debunks all the mischievously headlined reports circulating online, which should be disregarded.
“Our aircraft neither crashed nor crash landed in Ilorin or in any place for that matter. This kind of sensationalism is bad and was intended to cause panic in the minds of the flying public.
“It was duly reported to the authorities and passengers disembarked seamlessly. The tyres have, however, been fixed and aircraft is intact. We condemn sensational publication of falsehood.”
The airline pledged its commitment to providing peaceful connectivity across cities and assured of the highest standards of safety in its operations.
Also, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) denounced the rumour that Air Peace plane crashed in Ilorin.
AIB’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, announce this in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.
Oketunbi said: “There was no crash whatsoever,” adding, however, that the aircraft’s tyres busted after landing.
“This is to confirm an incident involving Air Peace B737-500 with registration Mpmarks 5N-BQR that occurred on July 23 in Ilorin, at about 10:30 am local time.
“There were 66 passengers and six crew members onboard. AIB safety investigators did an evaluation of the occurrence and decided not to investigate.
“The aeroplane has been released to the operator (Air Peace).
“The delay in opening the airport is down to the recovery of the Aeroplane from the Runway by FAAN and Air Peace. The aeroplane had a tyre burst on landing roll.
“We enjoin all media practitioners to verify all information before going to press.”
Similarly, the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, cautioned against sensationalism and noted that such would damage the reputation of the industry if care was not taken.
Nuhu also said the aircraft had the incident around 10:00am on Friday after landing from Abuja but after evaluation by the AIB safety inspectors, decided not to investigate.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) denounced reports of a crash involving Peace Airline plane.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, said there was no plane crash recorded at the Ilorin Airport.
“The attention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been drawn to a sensational report making the rounds that an aircraft with belonging to Air Peace B737-500 with Registration Mark 5N-BQR was involved in a crash in Ilorin yesterday (Friday).
”The authority wishes to state categorically that there was no air accident in Nigeria involving Air Peace or any airline.
As a matter of fact, the said aircraft which departed from Abuja successfully landed in Ilorin. It only experienced tyre burst in the course of taxing,” Adurogboye concluded in a statement.