Air Peace Airline has cleared the air on the alleged near-crash of one of its aircraft, as it disclosed that it was the plane’s tyre that burst after landing at the Ilorin Airport in Kwara State.
This disclosure was made by the spokesperson of Air Peace, Stanley Olisa on Saturday.
It was gathered that the incident happened on Friday around 10 am while the B737-500 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR was taxiing to the parking bay at the airport.
Scores of passengers onboard the aircraft from Abuja were disembarked safely when one of the plane’s tyres blew off after landing at the airport.
While the number of passengers aboard the aircraft is unknown, no one was reportedly injured during the incident and no life was lost.
Olisa said, “As we speak, the tyre has been fixed and the aircraft has been moved from the runway.
Our officials reported the incident to the authorities as statutorily required. Our aircraft neither crashed nor crash-landed in Ilorin or in any place for that matter.
Air Peace is committed to providing peaceful connectivity across cities and relentlessly observes the highest standards of safety in its operations.”
What the Accident Investigation Bureau says about the incident
The Accident Investigation Bureau, the investigating body in charge of all aviation-related accidents and incidents in Nigeria, confirmed that the incident occurred but said there was no plane crash.
AIB General Manager, Public Affairs, Tunji Oketumbi, explained that investigators evaluated the incident and won’t be investigating it.
He said, “Yes. It happened yesterday. AIB Safety investigators did an evaluation of the occurrence and decided not to investigate. The aeroplane has been released to the operator (Airpeace).
The delay in opening the airport is down to the recovery of the aeroplane from the runway by FAAN (Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria) and Airpeace. The aeroplane had a burst tyre on landing.”
In case you missed it
In January 2019, the tyre of an Air Peace aircraft also blew at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja while it was taxiing for take-off on the runway.
The incident sent the passengers on Boeing 737 aircraft, who were heading to Benin from Abuja, into panic mode but no life was lost and no one was injured.
