Air Peace Crash land: Passenger recounts experience as AIB begins Probe

One of the Passenger on Air Peace Airline yesterday has recounted his experience on the Aircraft Crash land.

Air Peace flight from Port Harcourt to Lagos experienced a hard landing which caused a tyre burst and damage to the aircraft’s nose wheel at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja Lagos.

Contrary to the claim on “sudden weather change”, the passenger by the name, Mr Bayo Adeyinka said that the captain announced they couldn’t land at the Lagos airport because a runway had been closed.

According to him, while recounting his experience on his facebook page said a flight of about 20 minutes became an hour.

“I was on an Air Peace flight coming from Akure. When the captain announced that we couldn’t land at the Lagos airport because a runway had been closed, I didn’t think much about it. I thought maybe there was VIP movement or so.

“But as the minutes stretched and we hovered in the air, I knew there was a problem. A flight of about 20 minutes became an hour.

“It was when I switched on my phone after we landed that I saw the news about another plane with a burst tyre”, Adeyinka noted.

Speaking further, Adeyinka expressed that “although, Air Peace has maintained its service standards to a reasonable extent, they need to however pay closer attention in view of the recent near mishaps.

The aircraft with 133 passengers and six crew members after making emergency landing reportedly veered off the runway on 18R.

However, passengers on board the flight were safely disembarked while authorities at the airport were swiftly mobilized to the scene.

The incident blamed on “sudden weather change” happened around 11:30 am, causing flight disruptions as the aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 with 5N- BQO, has not been evacuated from the runway as of the time of filing this report.

The 18R is the runway used by international flights while the other runway (18L) is only used for daytime operation at the domestic wing.

Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, chief operating officer of Air Peace, who confirmed the incident said Captain Ajibola who commanded the flight and her crew handled the incident professionally.

According to the Airline, Capt. Ajibola noticed sudden weather changes when approaching Lagos and demanded to land on the International runway which is longer and wider than the domestic runway.

In a statement, Olajide said, “After landing safely and rolling to the runway exit, the nose gear developed a problem and partial collapse. The crew notified the airport authorities who quickly ensured the safe disembarkation of the passengers via the passenger door.

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“We are committed to the safety of our passengers at all time. We will continue to operate in line with international practices and in accordance with regulatory guidelines. We are being assisted by the various authorities to determine to cause of the incident.”

Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) said it was notified of the incident and has commenced investigation.

AIB Commissioner/CEO, Akin Olateru has called for public support, adding, “We want the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clip, relevant evidence, or information any members of the public may have of the accident; that can assist us with this investigation.”