By Lawani Mikairu

Air Peace Airline, on Sunday, denied the report that three members of its China flight crew that brought medical supplies for the Federal Government absconded from the quarantine facility provided by Lagos state government.

Recall that Air Peace Boeing B777-200ER ( P4 5-NBVE) flight that airlifted medical supplies and Chinese medical personnel, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on April 8.

Denying the report, the Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs. Toyin Olajide, said all the crew that operated the flight, which included six pilots, eight cabin crew, two engineers and one dispatch officer are still quarantined under the supervision of the Lagos State government.

Mrs. Olajide explained that at the onset of the flight to China, the crew was tested for COVID-19 and each member tested negative and the airline followed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, protocol to ensure that its crew members were protected from exposure to the virus.

She also said that on arrival at Beijing airport, none of the crew members came out of the aircraft, while the aircraft was loaded with medical supplies and the Chinese medical team boarded the aircraft from the central door and stayed in the business class cabin as the flight left for Nigeria.

She further explained that the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO-approved standard protocol to protect flight crew during the COVID-19 pandemic and adopted by NCAA, was followed, adding that it is this protocol that Air Peace followed in conducting the flight to and fro Beijing.

The mix-up

According to Mrs. Olajide, “the crew members did not know that they would be quarantined on arrival and when the aircraft landed in Abuja and concerned authorities suggested it, Air Peace argued against it because it followed NCAA protocol in conducting the flight, so discussion on it was inconclusive when the flight headed to Lagos.

“But the airline learned later that while the flight was airborne to Lagos, Abuja had directed the Lagos State government to quarantine the crew. So on arrival, while the engineers and the dispatcher went down to the foot of the aircraft to secure it, the Lagos State government health team took the pilots and the cabin crew to quarantine.

“Ignorant that they would be quarantined, the engineers and the dispatcher finished their work and went home. Later the Lagos State government contacted Air Peace and said that the engineers and the dispatcher ought to be quarantined and we called them and they went to the quarantine facility.

“They have been there since then.

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“So the report that indicated that members of our crew ran away from quarantine is not true. It is a report written in bad taste and it is not good because the crew did a heroic thing and need to be commended instead of being vilified.

“NCAA, in a circular issued to airlines and other stakeholders with ref: NCAA/DG/AIR/11/110 dated March 28, 2020, outlined the protocol in handling cargo and other essential flights during the COVID-19.

“Among the directives includes the fact that ‘Nigerian operators on any approved flight to any destination with over 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, shall ensure the provision of reinforced flight crew (two sets) for immediate return in accordance with relevant protocols’.

“NCAA also directed that ‘there shall be no servicing of aircraft (catering, water, trash etc) except refueling; and this must be accomplished with flight crew on board’.”

Mrs. Olajide said the airline kept to this protocol and instead of two-flight crew, it went with three sets of flight crew and strictly kept to the NCAA protocol until it landed in Abuja.

Her words: “While we kept to the directive of quarantining the crew members that conducted the flight, we are surprised that after we followed this protocol the crew members were still asked to quarantine.

“ICAO’s intension with the protocol is to ensure that flight crew is not quarantined after their operation. Every day flights are operated all over the world moving medicals and other critical items.

“If you quarantine the pilots, who will be flying these items that are needed to save human lives under this COVID-19 pandemic?” Olajide asked.

Vanguard