Air Peace crew from China not missing in quarantine

The management of Air Peace has declared that three members of its flight crew from China did not abscond from the Lagos quarantine facility.

A report had claimed that three crew members who airlifted medical supplies and Chinese medical personnel from China to Abuja had vanished.

Chief Operating Officer of Air Peace, Mrs Toyin Olajide, debunked the report.

She said all the crew that operated the flight are still quarantined under the supervision of the Lagos state government.

They include six pilots, eight cabin crew, two engineers and one dispatch officer.

Olajide explained that before the crew embarked on the journey to China, they were tested for COVID-19.

Each member tested negative.

On arrival at Beijing airport, none of the crew members came out of the aircraft.

The aircraft was loaded with medical supplies.

The Chinese medical team boarded the aircraft from the central door.

They stayed in the business class cabin. And the flight left for Nigeria.

She explained that Air Peace strictly followed ICAO and NCAA approved standard protocol for COVID-19 pandemic.

Olajide said that the crew members were unaware they would be quarantined on arrival after following all the protocols.

“But the airline learnt 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.

“But later the Lagos state government contacted Air Peace and said that the engineers and the dispatcher ought to be quarantined.

“So we called them and they went to the quarantine facility.

“They have been there since then.

“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 needed to be commended instead of being vilified,” Olajide said.