Investigation has revealed that eleven military planes have crashed in Nigeria in the past six years leading to death of 33 military officers
Among the air crashes recorded between 2015 and 2021 was one involving a training helicopter, which crashed in the NAF Base in Enugu on November 14, 2019, after returning from a routine training exercise. Fortunately, there were no fatalities or injuries to any crewmember or persons on the ground.
Similarly, on August 17, 2019, a NAF aircraft RV-6A Air Beetle crashed near Kaduna, killing the pilot, an experienced instructor.
The plane reportedly lost height and crashed but the pilot died before rescuers got to the scene.
A NAF helicopter also crashed in the process of landing while returning from an anti-banditry combat mission in the North-West Theatre under Operation Hadaran Daji in Katsina State, on June 12, 2019.
The then NAF spokesman, Ibikunle Daramola, said no life was lost in the incident, which occurred at the Katsina Airport at 3.30pm.
On January 2, 2019, five crew members aboard a Nigerian Air Force Mi-35 helicopter gunship were killed when the aircraft crashed near Damasak, Borno State.
The Russia-built Mi-35M attack helicopter was providing close air support to troops of 145 Battalion, Damasak when it crashed.
The remains of the crew – Flight Lieutenants Perowei Jacob, Kaltho Kilyofas, Sgt Auwal Ibrahim, L/Corporal Adamu Nura and Aircraftman Meshack Ishmael – were interred in Maiduguri.
An investigation into the crash was subsequently commissioned, but the outcome has not been made public two years after.
Two F-7Ni aircraft crashed around Katampe Hills in Abuja, on September 28, 2018. The airplanes collided with each other during a rehearsal for Nigeria’s 58th independence anniversary celebration.
While the three pilots ejected successfully from the aircraft, one of them, however, lost his life after he suffered head injuries.
On July 6, 2017, a NAF Agusta 109 Light Utility Helicopter crashed in Borno River. There were no casualties.
The helicopter was on a liaison mission when it developed a technical fault causing the pilot to lose control. To avoid fatalities, the pilot crash-landed in a river.
Though no life was lost in the incident, the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar immediately constituted a board of inquiry to unravel the cause of the incident.
A statement signed by the then Director of Public Relations and Information of NAF, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said members of the board of inquiry visited Maiduguri to carry out their assignment.
On August 29, 2015, a Nigerian Air Force plane crashed into a house in Kaduna, killing all seven people on board. The four crew members and three civilian passengers died after the aircraft which was on a routine flight crashed into a house within the barracks.
In another incident on October 10, 2015, a F-7Nl jet crashed and claimed one life, while an Augusta Westland 101 helicopter crashed in Makurdi, Benue State on November 15, 2016.
The House of Representatives had criticised the NAF for the incessant crashes which had led to loss of lives and aircraft.