Purported Ncaa Report On Runway Incident: Our Response

Response on the report by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on the runway incident at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos on Thursday, February 8, 2018.

Our attention has been drawn to a purported report by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on the the opening of the rear cargo hold of Flight 7138 holding for departure on Runway 18R (A1) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 7.35pm on Thursday, February 8, 2018.

While we remain unwilling to be drawn into unnecessary controversy with agencies that ought to have been jolted into action from their slumber by patriotic information as we did on the incident, we are compelled to say the purported report by NCAA is both a lazy and shoddy job at cover-up.

The conclusion by NCAA suggesting that our information on the incident was a false alarm absolutely lacks basis. From the report, it is clear that the only reason for NCAA’s dismissal of the very serious security breach was the claim that when an aircraft of another airline beamed its lights after our pilot alerted the control tower to the incident, the suspected thieves were not seen. We need to reiterate that our pilot’s call to control tower was made after the rear cargo hold of our aircraft was opened and shut after fifteen seconds. We, therefore, begin to wonder whether NCAA expected the suspected thieves to be there waiting after opening and shutting the cargo hold within a space of fifteen seconds.

Even before we confirmed the incident, our guests on board the aircraft had made their independent accounts of the occurrence public. We would have thought NCAA would make some effort to reach guests on board the aircraft to share their experience. But it decided, once more, to go its usual path – deny, dismiss and protect themselves from the truth.

The light indicating that the cargo hold was opened did not only come up in the cockpit, both guests on board the aircraft and our crew were also attracted by the sound of the cargo hold when it was opened. We will like to advise the NCAA and its collaborators to treat complaints of security breach at our airports with the seriousness they deserve rather than this culture of baseless denial and attempt at cover-up. As members of the public may recall, similar incidents reported recently were also dismissed without a basis.

On our part, we will continue to take all necessary measures to prioritise and guarantee the safety of our guests, crew and equipment.

For: Air Peace Limited

CHRIS IWARAH

Corporate Communications Manager