AIB Releases Preliminary Reports on Air Peace Flight Incidents

Chinedu Eze

Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) yesterday released report on three incidents involving Air Peace aircraft and gave safety recommendations.

The bureau called on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ensure that all airline operators reviewed their Standards Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be in tandem with industry standards.

A statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs, AIB, Mr. Tunji Oketunbi, gave the registration numbers of the aircraft involved in the incidents as Boeing B737-300 aircraft with the registration number as 5N-BUK. The incident occurred at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on May 15, 2019.

The second incident, according to AIB, involved another B737-500 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-BRN at Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, on June 22, 2019. The third of the incident was B737-300 aircraft with the registration number: 5N-BQO also at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on July 23, 2019.

AIB said no one was injured in the three incidents.

Report of the B737-300 aircraft with the registration number 5N-BUK posted on the website the bureau indicated that the flight had departed Port Harcourt International Airport with 118 persons on board, including six crew members.

According to the report, the captain was the Pilot Flying (PF), while the co-pilot was Pilot Monitoring (PM), adding that at 19:24hr, the aircraft was on final approach to runway 18 Right. In the initial findings of AIB, the aircraft’s fuselage scraped the runway on landing and caused substantial damage to the aircraft.

It said that the crew had called Control Tower (CT) requesting information about the runway condition, which it said was clear, but there was thunderstorm on the takeoff path runway 18R.

On the second incident involving the aircraft with registration number 5N-BQO, report posted on the agency’s website stated that AIB was notified of the accident by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on July 23, 2019, the day of its occurrence.

It said investigators were dispatched to the scene same day to commence post occurrence assessments under the provisions of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents), Regulations 2019 and International Civil Aviation (ICAO) Annex 13, adding that all other relevant stakeholders were also notified.

It said the aircraft had departed Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, as flight APK7191 for Lagos airport under an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan with six crewmembers and 133 passengers.

It, however, said that the aircraft landed on the nose gear causing the nose wheel to break off on landing runway 18R at the Lagos airport.

AIB also recommended that Air Peace should ensure that “flight crew adheres to strict compliance with Company Operations Manual (OM Part A) Chapter 11 (11.4.3) on Preservation of Recordings.

“NCAA should circulate an All Operators Letter (AOL) to airlines on the need for their crew to carryout emergency evacuation; being the best option in the event of a serious incident or accident; with the aircraft structure compromised during landing or stops in an unapproved aircraft maneuvering area.”