After a light face-off between members of the Senate Committee on Aviation and the chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, over the runway overshoot by one airways’ plane on July 13 this yr on the Port Harcourt Worldwide Airport, the legislative committee has given Air Peace a clear invoice of well being.
Nevertheless, key stakeholders within the aviation sector, together with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Security Investigation Bureau (NSIB), and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), instructed the committee that investigations into the incident had been but to be concluded.
The Senate committee’s clearance of Air Peace got here after a closed-door session lasting over an hour between the lawmakers and aviation stakeholders—a gathering hurriedly convened after the Air Peace boss objected to the rationale for the listening to’s topic.
As mandated by the Senate, the listening to was titled “One-Day Investigative Listening to on the Must Strengthen Aviation Security Following the NSIB Report on Air Peace Runway Overrun at Port Harcourt Airport.”
The title of the listening to was, nevertheless, vehemently opposed by Onyema.
Objecting to the session, Onyema argued that the investigative listening to shouldn’t have centered solely on Air Peace, noting that runway overruns happen globally by completely different plane.
“I initially didn’t wish to honour this invitation, however on a second thought, I got here as a result of Senate members are our prospects, and so they have each proper to be involved about security. I have to, nevertheless, appropriate sure impressions created by the title or matter used for this session,” Onyema stated.
“What we are saying right here is being monitored globally. We should be cautious to not impugn the integrity of the NSIB or destroy public belief in Nigerian airways. Air Peace is among the most secure airways on the earth, not simply in Nigeria,” he added.
Onyema clarified that the Air Peace plane concerned within the incident suffered no mechanical fault or harm, explaining that the runway tour resulted from human error.
“The plane in query had no single harm. It flew again to Lagos the identical day. The pilot has flown for almost 40 years — one of the vital skilled in our fleet. He merely had a foul day. Sadly, the early report created confusion that made it seem as if the plane was defective or the pilots had been intoxicated,” he said.
Moved by his submission, the committee, led by Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North), went right into a closed-door session with Onyema and different stakeholders. After deliberation, the committee exonerated Air Peace from any wrongdoing concerning the runway overshoot.
Particularly, the committee chairman, Senator Buhari, stated: “The Senate’s overview of the Nigerian Security Investigation Bureau (NSIB) report revealed severe inconsistencies and uncoordinated findings, which may harm Nigeria’s aviation repute earlier than worldwide regulators if left uncorrected. Air Peace and United Nigeria Airways are our personal. We have to help them, not harm their repute with unverified claims.
“A very powerful factor is that no lives had been misplaced, and the plane was not broken. It was towed and later flown again safely to Lagos.”
Senator Buhari recommended Air Peace and different indigenous airways for sustaining robust inside security checks and conducting random testing of pilots and workers, insisting that Nigeria ought to “encourage relatively than destroy” its native carriers.
Earlier, in her submission earlier than the committee, the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, stated the company’s dedication to security was examined in the course of the Air Peace runway overrun incident on July 13, 2025 — a state of affairs that was effectively managed by the Port Harcourt Worldwide Airport Emergency Response Workforce.
