Air Peace management said on Friday it is yet to receive any official communications from the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau ( NSIB) on report of findings conducted on its crew over a month after the Port Harcourt incident and after the testing of the crew for alcohol which took place in less than an hour of the incident.
The airline is reacting to claims in the preliminary report that its crew tested positive for cannabis and alcohol, adding the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) cleared the First Officer for resumption after approving the request for his reinstatement.
“Contrary to reports in the media, the First Officer (Co-pilot), who demonstrated professionalism in calling for a go-around to his captain, has been reinstated into active flying duties, with full approval from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The NCAA cleared him. If he was involved in drug or alcohol use, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority would not have cleared him to resume flight duties.
It added that as a responsible airline, it places utmost priority on safety, transparency, and compliance,
“Air Peace conducts frequent alcohol and drug tests on our crew. We have a very strict alcohol use policy that is stricter than the 8 hours before the flight as provided in the regulations. Drug use is a NO-NO!
“The captain of the affected flight was grounded and relieved from further flight duty till date for failure to adhere to Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles and for disregarding standard go-around procedures as advised by his co-pilot but not for testing positive to breathalyser test as the result was not communicated to us by NSIB to date.’, it added
It noted however that if the relieved captain tested positive to the breathalyser test, then it must increase the frequency of its alcohol and drug tests on our crew.
“Again, the importance of Enhanced Crew Resource Management Training can not be over emphasized. We will intensify strict Fitness-for-Duty checks and Stronger Internal Monitoring to prevent any breach of our zero-tolerance safety policy.
“Air Peace has consistently maintained a strong safety record and strictly implements global best practices in all aspects of its operations, and we reassure our esteemed passengers and the Nigerian public that safety will never be compromised in Air Peace”, it said.
