By Peter Dansu The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has indicted the pilot and co-pilot of an Air Peace aircraft after toxicolo...
By Peter Dansu
The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has indicted the pilot and co-pilot of an Air Peace aircraft after toxicology tests revealed they operated a domestic flight under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
According to a preliminary report released on Friday by the NSIB’s Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance, Mrs. Bimbo Olawumi Oladeji, the incident occurred on Sunday, July 13, 2025, when the aircraft suffered a runway excursion at Port Harcourt International Airport.
The Boeing 737, which had departed Lagos with 103 passengers on board, landed long on Runway 21 following what investigators described as an “unstabilised final approach.” The jet touched down about 2,264 metres from the runway threshold—well beyond the recommended touchdown zone—before finally coming to a stop 209 metres into the clearway.
Fortunately, all passengers and crew disembarked safely and no injuries were recorded, but the incident raised serious safety concerns.
Toxicology results conducted at the Rivers State Hospital Laboratory in Port Harcourt revealed that both the captain and first officer tested positive for ethyl glucuronide, a marker of recent alcohol use. Additionally, a cabin crew member tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in cannabis, also known as Indian hemp.
The bureau noted that the findings are being evaluated in relation to human performance and safety management, both of which are critical to flight operations.
In its safety recommendations, the NSIB directed Air Peace to immediately reinforce its internal procedures for assessing crew fitness-for-duty before flight dispatch, and to improve training on crew resource management—particularly in handling unstabilised approaches and making go-around decisions.
The report further highlighted the steep authority gap in the cockpit: a 64-year-old captain with over 10,000 hours of flight time was paired with a relatively inexperienced 28-year-old first officer with only 880 hours on type.
While investigations into the runway excursion are still ongoing, the NSIB stressed that intoxication among flight crew represents a grave safety risk that must be urgently addressed.
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