The Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, Mr Chris Iwarah, who confirmed the development, explained that the flight had to return to Lagos as a precautionary measure and in line with the airline’s zero-risk policy.
Iwarah said the aircraft landed safely at the General Aviation Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, with passengers on board maintaining their calm.
“We confirm that our 9 a.m. Lagos-Owerri flight returned to base on Friday after one of our esteemed guests informed our crew that he was smelling smoke in the cabin.
“Although nothing indicated in the flight deck that there was anything wrong with the aircraft, our crew decided to return to base as a precautionary measure and in compliance with our zero-risk policy.
“The aircraft landed smoothly in Lagos and our team of engineers immediately conducted thorough checks on the aircraft while all our guests calmly remained in their seats.
“The checks confirmed that there was neither smoke nor any other fault with the aircraft,” he said in a statement.
According to him, despite the assurances of our engineers that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the aircraft, the airline decided to transfer the passengers to another aircraft.
Iwarah said: “this was to enable our teams do another round of checks in line with our high safety standards.
“We commend our valued guests for their calm disposition and cooperation while the checks lasted.
“Although checks by our engineers confirmed that the aircraft was in perfect working condition, we encourage our guests to always feel free to share anything they notice in our flight operations with us.”
The corporate communications manager added that the guests were “critical stakeholders of the Air Peace family.”
In another development, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has renewed the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) of Air Peace after subjecting its operations to months of rigorous audit.
The AOC signed by the Director General of the NCAA, Capt. Usman Muhtar, said Air Peace was authorised to undertake scheduled, cargo and charter operations.
Speaking on the development, Iwarah said it confirmed the sustenance of the high standard of Air Peace’s flight operations.
He noted that the airline would continue to place the safety of its guests and crew above any other considerations.