There was a near miss but serious Sunday, 13th July 2025, when Air Peace flight P47190 from Port Harcourt to Lagos skidded off the runway when it landed at Port Harcourt International Airport.
No one was harmed and nothing was affected to the airframe of the plane, but the incident has put Nigerian aviation safety in the global spotlight.
The plane whose public affairs officer Osifo-Whiskey Efe spoke about had a “runway excursion” but landed safely on the ground. The passengers were evacuated safely and in an orderly fashion.
“Air Peace confirms that its Flight P47190, operating from Lagos to Port Harcourt this morning, had a runway excursion after landing safely at the Port Harcourt International Airport. The aircraft veered slightly off the runway without any damage. All passengers disembarked safely and calmly, and no injuries were reported,” the airline said.
As the flight cause remains to be determined, the authorities and experts anticipate the formal determination by Nigeria’s aviation regulatory agencies, led by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The organization has to carry out an inquiry on flight performance, pilot reaction, and runway conditions.
Based on weather and runway friction as potential causatives, Water Board series of Kubwa Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport systems engineer Abiola Adekunle Libing approached the problem from the engineer’s perspective.
“Runway excursions can happen even with skilled pilots if the surface conditions are compromised by rain, rubber accumulation, or poor drainage,” Libing explained. “Even slight hydroplaning or uneven braking response due to slippery asphalt can cause a plane to veer. Regular maintenance and proper calibration of runway friction indices are crucial.”
Air Peace horror is among a series of recent air horrors ascribed to Nigerian airlines. Flight of one of the Rano Air was successfully completed with mid-air engine failure emergency landing last June of 2025. Burst tyre and flat nose wheel destroyed Boeing 737 Max Air during the last January of the current year at Kano. The same recent tire blowouts happened to Max Air last July 2024 and Dana Air last April of the said year.
These relentless crashes have elicited growing popular interest in Nigeria’s aircraft regulation, maintenance culture, and response capacity. No fatal fatality nor injury was experienced in all the crashes, but aviation safety officials contend that steps should be put on system power, re-certification of pilots in real-time, and inspection of runways in real-time at any time of day.
With stronger air travel regulations around the world dominating the headlines, Nigerian airlines are more than ever under pressure to keep their safety record intact. The industry is now at a point where it can comfortably sacrifice crisis management and deliver prevention through wise operating examination and facility improvement.
This new Air Peace aircraft must be an eye-opener to industry players that even a minor failure in security and maintenance has the potential to cause distortion and erosion of public confidence in air travel.
