The management of Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, has clarified reports that the windscreen of one of its aircraft en route from Akure, the Ondo state capital to Abuja, Embraer ERJ 145, suddenly broke to the surprise of passengers and airport staff.
It said that the flight went smoothly and the aircraft landed safely without any abnormal events after suffering windshield damage.
Air Peace made its clarifications in a statement by its management, on Tuesday, September 24.
The statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a report about a windshield shattering on Air Peace Flight from Akure to Abuja, which supposedly ’caused panic on the flying passenger’.
“We would like to state clearly that there was no such ‘Panic event’ on the said flight. On the contrary, it was a smooth flight that landed safely without any abnormal events.
“The windshield had a crack on the outer layer of the front window of the First Officer’s side, which was discovered by the cockpit crew. On no account was the safety of the flight or the safety of the passenger jeopardized in the process. This particular flight operated Normal from Akure to Abuja and landed safely in Abuja without any unsafe events or safety concerns. Upon landing at Abuja airport, the Pilots did their normal workaround and reported the cracked outer layer of one of the windshields to the engineers who immediately commenced the replacement of the cracked windshield.
“It is, however, wrong and unacceptable for people to peddle falsehood just to tarnish the image of the airline when, in fact, there was never any development that caused panic among the passengers of this flight. This is false, and such negative reports should be discouraged and stopped immediately.
“Air Peace will never jeopardize the safety of its esteemed passengers and will continue to prioritize the highest standard of safety in its operations.”
Recall how Passengers were thrown into a panic mode on Monday as the windshield of an Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft operated by Air Peace was shattered in Abuja.
As the aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the windshield reportedly shattered, sparking concerns for passengers and aviation workers who witnessed the development.
Among the passengers onboard was human rights advocate Omoyele Sowore, who was traveling to Abuja.
One of the passengers at the airport who saw the incident, who identified herself simply as Funmi, told our correspondent that it was a scary incident while expressing dissatisfaction with the airline for refusing to explain what exactly happened to the windshield at the spot of the incident.
Attempt to speak with the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Abdullahi Musa, was fruitless as he neither picked up his calls nor responded to text messages sent to him on the matter.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, Bimbo Olajide, noted that the NCAA would be in the best position to respond to the incident.
The NSIB is charged with the duty of promoting transport safety and conducting objective and thorough investigations into transport accidents and incidents in Nigeria, to identify the probable causes.
Olajide said the NSIB is expected to investigate accidents and not incidents of that nature.
“The is classified as an incident and NSIB is expected to investigate accident and serious incident but the development falls in the category of an incident and not serious incident or accident. This falls within the purview of the NCAA.”
When contacted, over the phone, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, promised to speak with his staff and get back to our reporter but never did till press time.
Also asked about what transpired that led to the shattering of the windshield, the Chief Operating Officer of the affected airline, Oluwatoyin Olajide, who angrily responded to our correspondent, claimed that the safety of the flying passengers was not jeopardised.
Olajide who had earlier ignored our correspondent’s call became angry when told that it was gathered that the development caused panic among the flying passengers.