FROM TONY JOHN, PORTHARCOURT, NOAH EBIJE, KADUNA
Seven persons were feared dead in a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Dornier-228 air crash yesterday. The air craft crashed into a house at Ribadu Cantonment, Kaduna.
According to a release signed by Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air force, Air Commodore Dele Alonge, there were no survivors. The aircraft was Abuja-bound and had taken-off at about 6:45am from the Kaduna Military Airfield before the mishap. Bodies of the victims have been recovered and fire fighters were at the crash site to prevent fire from spreading to other buildings within the vicinity.
Following the incident, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, who was about to take an official trip to Port Harcourt visited the crash site and families of the deceased in company of the Air Officer Commanding Training Command, Air Vice Marshal Alikali Mamu. Shortly after visiting the scene of the incident, Abubakar left for Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, a special committee has been set up to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident. Speaking with newsmen yesterday at the 97 Special Operations Group (SOG), Air Force Base, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the air chief described the mishap as tragic. His words: “These are some of the hazards associated with flying. We have set up a panel to immediately find out the immediate and remote causes of the accident. We will look at the report of the panel.”
“It was very tragic. I have gone to condole the families of the pilots that died in the accident. I don’t want to pre-empt the findings of the panel we set up to investigate the causes of the crash,” he added. Sunday Sun findings showed that none of the occupants of the building the helicopter crashed into was killed.
Abubakar disclosed that he was in Port Harcourt to sensitize his men against oil theft and illegal bunkering, saying that the Air Force had acquired a marine patrol aircraft to enhance its operations in the area. Journalists and sympathizers were barred from gaining access to the crash site by stern-looking soldiers on guard at the NDA gate.