Sixty-six passengers and six crew onboard an Air Peace aircraft narrowly escaped death as the plane’s tyres blew off after landing at the Ilorin Airport in Kwara State.
It was gathered that the incident happened on Friday at 10:30 am while the B737-500 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR was taxiing to the parking bay at the airport.
No one was reportedly injured during the incident and no life was lost.
Addressing the issue, The Nigeria Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB-N, Saturday confirmed that an Air Peace aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR only had a minor tyre burst incident and not a crash as widely reported.
A statement from AIB signed by the General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Tunji Oketunbi read, “This is to confirm an incident involving Air Peace B737-500 with Registration Marks 5N-BQR that occurred yesterday ( Friday) in Ilorin at about 10:30 am local time. There were 66 passengers and 6 crew onboard.”
“AIB Safety investigators evaluated the occurrence and decided NOT to investigate. The Aeroplane has been released to the Operator (Air Peace). The delay in opening the Airport is down to the recovery of the Aeroplane from the Runway by FAAN and Airpeace. The aeroplane had a burst tyre on landing roll. “
“We enjoin all media practitioners to verify every information before going to press”, Oketunbi added.
Confirming the Ilorin incident, Air Peace airline management in a statement said: ” The attention of Air Peace has been drawn to misleading online reports purporting that our Ilorin bound B737-500 aircraft with registration number 5N-BQR from Abuja, was involved in a crash in Ilorin, around 10 am on July 23, 2021″.
For the records, no such thing happened. The reports misrepresented and exaggerated the facts. We can confirm that the aircraft in question landed safely but had a minimal tyre burst while taxing. This debunks all the mischievously headlined reports circulating online, which should be disregarded.”
“Our aircraft neither crashed nor crash-landed in Ilorin or in any place for that matter. This kind of sensationalism is bad and was intended to cause panic in the minds of the flying public.”
”It was duly reported to the authorities and passengers disembarked seamlessly. The tyres have, however, been fixed and the aircraft is intact. We condemn the sensational publication of falsehood.”
“Air Peace is committed to providing peaceful connectivity across cities and relentlessly observes the highest standards of safety in its operations,” the statement concluded.
