● Say: We do not take alcohol nor smoke weed
Two staff members of Air Peace airline indicted over the July 13, 2025, runway incident at Port Harcourt International Airport have rigorously dismissed the report by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, that claimed they tested positive for alcohol and hard drug.
In an interview on ARISE Television, David Bernard, a co-pilot, and Maduneme Victory, a cabin crew member, comprehensively rejected the report stopping short of accusing the NISB of peddling falsehood to create fear in the flying public. They neither drink nor smoke, the duo maintained.
The accident investigators had tested the pilot and the crew member positive for alcohol and marijuana after a plane they flew was involved in a runway incursion on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
An aircraft incursion is the wrongful or unauthorised positioning of an aeroplane at the runway. Incursions are most caused by miscommunication, mistakes, faulty gear, and potholes on runways, among others.
The Air Peace aircraft had veered off the runway while landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport.
In the report, the NSIB revealed that the aircraft touched down 2,264 metres from the runway threshold, well beyond the recommended touchdown zone, and eventually came to a stop at 209 metres into the clearway.
Though the incident has raised safety concerns among the flying public, all on board the aircraft disembarked safely.
The NSIB preliminary report, signed by the Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance at Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, Mrs. Bimbo Oladeji said toxicological test results conducted on the flight crew came out positive.
According to Oladeji, the tests indicated the presence of alcohol in the crew’s system, while another crew member also tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active compound found in cannabis, popularly known as India hemp.
“Initial toxicological tests conducted on the flight crew revealed positive results for certain substances, including indicators of alcohol consumption,” the statement reads. “A cabin crew member also tested positive for THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis. These results are being reviewed under the human performance and safety management components of the investigation.
“Toxicological test was conducted on the flight crew at Rivers state hospital management, department of medical laboratory, Port Harcourt, on 13th July 2025, and they tested positive for some substances. Toxicological screening conducted post-incident revealed: captain and first officer: tested positive for Ethyl Glucuronide, indicating recent alcohol consumption.”
But speaking on Arise Television on Friday, the indicted Air Peace staff accused the NSIB of conducting questionable tests at an unregistered centre to smear the image of the airline.
Bernard, the co-pilot, maintained that he neither take alcohol nor drugs.
His exact words: “I don’t drink and secondly, we are in 2025, if you are trying to do an alcohol and blood test, we have something called the breathalyser, where you have to do your test right there. You blow in your breath into the breathalyser. It checks the amount of alcohol in your system.
“But these guys at the Port Harcourt Airport took our blood samples and urine on the 13th, and then, they are coming back on the 23rd of July with the result. I mean, how long does it take for a result to be out?
“We are in 2025, and we paid a lot of money for this flying school. You can’t just jeopardise somebody’s image, telling me I take alcohol. I didn’t see it in your presence. You took the test out to a non-aviation recognised hospital. So, it doesn’t make any sense at all. I don’t drink or smoke,” he said.
Bernard also observed that the airline usually conducted random tests on crew members, which always made them avoid anything that could put their jobs at risk.
“So, you don’t just take anything because you can randomly be checked when reporting for duty,” he said. “And you are not supposed to have 0.02 grams of alcohol in your blood, and you are not supposed to take alcohol eight hours before reporting on duty or on standby.”
Victory also faulted the report, claiming that the development was a clear attempt to smear the image of the airline.
“On July 13th, after we landed,” she recounted, “we waited for NSIB to come on board. Then, they came and started their investigation. And five hours later, they asked us to come into a room to do a test.
“So, we all went into the room, and our blood samples were taken, and our urine was also taken. Normally, when this kind of test is done, immediately after a drug test and alcohol test, you are supposed to get your results within a few hours. But this was not given to us that day. Ten days later, on the 6th, I was called by the NCAA to come and pick up a letter.”
She said what she saw shook every fibre of her being.
“I went to the NCAA in Lagos,’ she said, “I opened the letter, and I was in utter shock to see what was in my result. So, I went to see the doctor. I told the doctor that I was very shocked to see this in my result, and it is not possible for me to have this in my system. He told me to come back in seven days to reply to their letter, but I didn’t wait until seven days; I had to respond, which was on the 7th.
“They got back to me on the 27th that I should come to the office. I went to the office and I was handed a letter and the letter said I should do a confirmatory test, which I accepted to do and they sent to me to go and meet Dr. Adetunji of Aero Space Clinic, which is the licensed clinic for this kind of test.
“When I met with the doctor, he said to me that marijuana usually stays in the system for 90 days. If I have something like this that he is advising me that I should go and come back later when I feel like everything has cleared from my system. I said no, if I go back and come back later, it actually proves that I have this kind of thing in my system. I want to do the test.
“The test was done, and everything came out negative. The question I need to ask NSIB is, if marijuana was found in my system, were they not supposed to say this to my airline, and were they not supposed to stop me from flying?
“Why? Because I am a risk to the passengers on board, and my license would have been taken away from me. But they didn’t inform them of this till after two months. This is like the second month, and it is just coming out, and they are spoiling the image of the airline.
“This thing (test) was done within a month. And nothing was found in my system. If NSIB has a smear campaign against the airline, they should keep the innocent people away from this. If not for the calmness of my chairman, they would have sacked me and blacklisted me. And once that is done, no airline in the world would pick me because now they have painted me as this person who has a drug in her system. This is really very bad,” she added.
She summed up her story and threatened legal action should the agency refuse to thrash the report.
“This is really very bad,” Victory declared. “This is pure defamation of character. I don’t know if our report and test should be shown because the world needs to see this, and NSIB needs to come and actually clear this thing. We just woke up this morning, and all this news is flying around. I wish we could just pursue this and let the world see that this is our test result and nothing is found in our system. These are all lies.”
However, the Director-General of the NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh Jnr. dismissed the allegations with a wave of the hand.
Badeh, while sympathising with the workers, said such reactions were expected from people in the eye of the storm.
“We have heard them say it is a smear campaign against the airline,” Badeh said. “But I must point out that this is not our first preliminary report we’ve published. We have published countless. So, it is a little surprising to suddenly hear that it is a smear campaign against Air Peace. NSIB does not conduct tests. This was done by the River State Hospital Management, but it is an official test. They got tested, urine and blood, and the report came out the next day. On the 14th, the crash happened on the 13th. So, the report was with us but we had to investigate other things.”
Air Peace sticks to its gun
Air Peace has, however, held tenaciously to its position, noting that the co-pilot had continued to fly since the incident occurred.
The airline said the co-pilot had since been cleared by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and returned to active duty.
“If he were involved in drug or alcohol use, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority would not have cleared him to resume flight duties,” the airline said, noting that if an eventual confirmation of a positive alcohol test was issued against the captain, it would step up the frequency of crew testing and strengthen its fitness-for-duty checks and internal monitoring. [The Crest]
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