Air Force helicopter crashes into pool of water in Borno

By Kingsley Omonobi & Joseph Erunke

Abuja—ONE of the helicopters belonging to the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, crashed, yesterday,in Borno State.

The helicopter, Agusta 109, a light utility type, operating in the on-going fight against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East, according to the Nigerian Air Force, crashed into a pool of water in the state.

There was no life lost or injury sustained in the incident. However, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has immediately constituted a board of inquiry to unravel the cause of the incident.

A statement by Director of Public Relations and Information of NAF, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, yesterday, in Abuja, said members of the board of inquiry were already in Maiduguri, Borno State, to carry out their assignment on the crash, which occurred in the early hours of yesterday.

The statement read: “A Nigerian Air Force, NAF, Agusta 109 Light Utility helicopter suffered a mishap while undertaking a liaison mission targeted at further enhancing the synergy between the Nigerian Army and the NAF in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the North-East.

“The incident, which occurred today, July 6, 2017 (yesterday), was as a result of an airborne technical fault with the helicopter. The experienced NAF pilots, however, successfully ditched the helicopter into a pool of water to minimize damage and loss of lives.

“Consequently, there were neither injury nor loss of lives to anyone on board or on the ground.

“The Chief of the Air Staff has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident, while efforts are ongoing to recover the helicopter and members of the board are already in Maiduguri to commence work.”

 

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