Two crew members of Air Peace have strongly denied allegations by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) that they tested positive for alcohol and cannabis following a runway incursion incident involving the airline at Port Harcourt International Airport on July 13, 2025.
The NSIB report, released this week, stated that toxicology tests conducted on the crew revealed alcohol in the co-pilot’s system and traces of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the psychoactive compound in cannabis — in a cabin crew member.
While all passengers on board the aircraft disembarked safely, the bureau’s findings raised safety concerns. However, the affected crew members — Co-pilot David Bernard and flight attendant Maduneme Victory — have pushed back, describing the report as inaccurate and damaging to their professional reputation. Speaking on Arise Television, Bernard said: “I don’t drink. If this were true, the NCAA wouldn’t have cleared me to keep flying. This test was done at a non-recognised hospital and the result came back 10 days later — that’s not how these things are done.”
Victory, who was also named in the report, described the process as flawed and biased. She confirmed undergoing a second test at a certified aviation clinic, which came back negative. According to her, the delay in communicating the test result and the NSIB’s failure to notify her airline immediately further discredit the bureau’s claim. She said she was left “in utter shock” upon opening a letter from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) informing her of the findings weeks after the incident.
Air Peace has also responded, confirming that the co-pilot continued flying after the event and had been cleared by the NCAA. The airline stated that if the positive result were valid, appropriate actions would have been taken by the regulatory authority. It pledged to strengthen internal drug and alcohol testing procedures if further evidence supports the NSIB’s claims.
The NSIB, however, stood by its report. Its Director-General, Captain Alex Badeh, dismissed the allegations of bias, stating the tests were carried out by the Rivers State Hospital Management Board and not by the bureau itself. “We’ve done this before. This isn’t a campaign against any airline,” he said.
As tensions between the NSIB and the crew members escalate, efforts to confirm whether NCAA findings contradict the bureau’s report remain ongoing. The lack of a unified stance from aviation agencies has drawn criticism from industry observers, who warn that public trust in aviation oversight could be at risk if discrepancies remain unresolved.
