Air Peace removes passenger from Abuja-bound flight over threat to ‘burn down’ aircraft

Air Peace has removed a passenger from an Abuja-bound flight after he allegedly threatened that his anger could “burn down” the aircraft during a confrontation with cabin crew.

The incident occurred on Monday aboard Flight P47866, which was preparing for take-off.

The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Michael Achimugu, disclosed this in a post on X.

Achimugu, who didn’t state the departure location, identified the passenger as Celestine Ezeudu, alleging that he repeatedly refused instructions from cabin crew to stop taking pictures and put away his device as the aircraft prepared for departure.

He said the situation escalated into an altercation, during which Ezeudu allegedly threatened that his anger could “burn down” the aircraft.

According to him, the captain was immediately alerted and initiated a ramp return at 15:57 hours, resulting in the passenger’s removal from the aircraft.

Achimugu added that the passenger’s travelling companion also voluntarily disembarked.

He further disclosed that Ezeudu, while being questioned, claimed his anger was triggered by missing an earlier flight.

“In the crew room, Ezeudu claimed that his anger stemmed from missing an earlier flight, but he did not know that his behaviour would lead to a ramp return,” Achimugu added.

The NCAA official’s account did not indicate whether the passenger would face further sanctions over the incident.