Dare Babalola
A co-pilot, David Bernard, and a cabin crew member, Maduneme Victory, have rejected a report of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau which claimed that they tested positive for alcohol and a hard drug.
During an interview on Arise Television on Friday night, Bernard said the NSIB conducted the tests at an unregistered centre, questioning the authenticity of the process.
Claiming that the motive of the NSIB was to smear the image of the airline, Bernard insisted that he does not take alcohol and drugs.
He said, “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 breathe 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 to a non-aviation recognised hospital. So, it doesn’t make any sense at all. I don’t drink or smoke.”
Bernard claimed that the company always runs a random check on its staff members to ensure that they do not take prohibited substances.
His words, “So, you don’t just take anything because you can randomly be checked when reporting for duty. 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.”
Recall that Air Peace aircraft had veered off the runway while landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport on Sunday, July 13, 2025.
The NSIB preliminary report, signed by the Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance at Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, and made available to newsmen on Friday, said toxicological test results conducted on the flight crew turned out positive.
The airline immediately dismissed the claim of the accident investigators.
