Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has said toxicological tests conducted on the crew of an Air Peace aircraft involved in a runway excursion at the Port Harcourt International Airport on July 13, returned positive for alcohol and cannabis.
NSIB disclosed this in its preliminary report signed by its director of public affairs and family assistance, Bimbo Oladeji, on Friday.
The report said the Boeing 737-524 aircraft with registration 5N-BQQ was operating a scheduled flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt with 103 persons on board.
It added that the plane landed long on Runway 21 after an unstabilised final approach, touching down 2,264 metres from the runway threshold before coming to a stop 209 metres into the clearway.
All passengers and crew disembarked safely and no injuries were recorded.
“Initial toxicological tests conducted on the flight crew revealed positive results for certain substances, including indicators of alcohol consumption. A cabin crew member also tested positive for THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis,” the NSIB stated.
The bureau said the results were being reviewed under human performance and safety management, noting that toxicological screening conducted post-incident at the Rivers State Hospital Management Department of Medical Laboratory confirmed alcohol consumption by the captain and first officer.
Following the incident, NSIB said it had issued immediate safety recommendations to Air Peace Limited, led by its chairman, Allen Onyema, to strengthen crew resource management training, particularly in handling unstabilised approaches and go-around decisions and to reinforce internal procedures for crew fitness-for-duty monitoring before flight dispatch.
The bureau added that its full preliminary report, including detailed findings, was available on its website, stressing that the final report would present further conclusions and additional recommendations to enhance aviation safety in Nigeria.
