The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) says investigation into the Air Peace aircraft incident at Port Harcourt International Airports (PHIA) is still ongoing.

Its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.

NAN reports that AIB had dispatched a team to investigate the incident of an Air Peace flight that skidded off the runway at Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, Rivers, on June 22.

Oketunbi said investigators were working assiduously to unravel what led to the incident.

He said that whether it was investigating serious accident or incident they required the same process and time to get the investigation completed.

“That is what the investigators are doing now, and they have gathered all the field materials; they have interviewed necessary people that should be interviewed.

“They are also going into the airline books and in a short while, we will issue a preliminary report on the preliminary investigation. It will be out in no distance region,” he said.

Oketunbi said it was the duty of the airline to cooperate with the investigators, because the investigation would be of benefit to the airline.

He said this was because during the investigation, investigators would uncover a lot of things that the airline might need to put in place to strengthen its system.

“Don’t forget that the purpose of accident investigation is to determine the effect of an occurrence and to also determine the circumstances leading to a particular occurrence.

“This will enable us to mix it with recommendations that will prevent future incident or accident; so by this, it will be the benefit of the airlines,” he said.

Oketunbi said the cooperation with the investigators was the duty the airline owed itself and the flying public. (NAN)