NCAA engages Ibom Air, Comfort Emmanson in air rage probe

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), on Thursday, says it met with Comfort Emmanson, the passenger involved in a recent air rage incident onboard an Ibom Air flight.

The meeting is part of the authority’s probe of the incident, which occurred on an Ibom Air flight inbound Lagos from Uyo.

The development comes hours after Michael Achimugu, the NCAA’s director of public affairs and consumer protection, announced the agency’s plan to engage the passenger in a social media post on Thursday.

Achimugu had said Emmanson would be accompanied by her lawyer to the meeting.

“NCAA has held a meeting with Comfort Emanson, the Ibom Air passenger,” Achimugu said tersely.

COMFORT EMANSON:
NCAA has held a meeting with Comfort Emanson, the Ibom Air passenger. pic.twitter.com/dkE2WT6Txq

— Michael Achimugu (@mikeachimugu01) August 21, 2025
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In a separate post on X, Achimugu said the NCAA officials also met with Julie Edwards and other Ibom Air crew members involved in the incident on Wednesday in Abuja as part of the probe.

He said the NCAA’s directorates of aviation security, operations, licensing and training standards, legal, and consumer protection are working together to ensure a thorough conclusion to the investigation.

IBOM AIR INVESTIGATION:
Yesterday in Abuja, the NCAA team met with Julie Edwards and other members of the crew involved in the Comfort Emanson incident as part of investigations into that event.
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The NCAA’s directorates of Aviation Security; Operations, Licensing, and Training… pic.twitter.com/mbnEso8XW8

— Michael Achimugu (@mikeachimugu01) August 21, 2025

Speaking to TheCable, Achimugu said the passenger was asked questions based on Ibom Air’s account of events during its engagement with the NCAA.

“She has had the opportunity to tell her own side of the story and defend some of the assertions the airline has made,” he said.

The director noted that the investigation remains ongoing, with the agency seeking additional evidence, including witness statements and CCTV footage, to corroborate the accounts presented by both parties.

“We are still tying up loose ends to these conversations because, as you may know, in cases like this, both parties will tell their tales. But there will always be other evidences for us to tie to those stories they are telling us,” Achimugu said.

“For instance, if the airline is saying the lady did this and that, and it is a situation where there are other witnesses who don’t work for the airline that we can confirm from, who are also not passengers on that flight, we need to ask them.

“The ones where we need CCTV footage, we need to review the footage in order to be sure so that the information we put out to the public will be true and factual.”

He said more details will be available as the investigation progresses.

On August 13, the NCAA announced that it will meet with Ibom Air and eyewitnesses to review the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The authority had appealed to passengers on the Ibom Air flight to come forward with accounts after videos showing an enraged Emmanson assaulting a flight attendant and confronting airport security officials circulated online.