Chief Of Air Staff Inspects Ondo Crash Site, Assures Thorough Investigation

The Chief of Air Staff CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, has assured the families of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) personnel who lost their lives in the NAF-931 aircraft that the cause of the incident would be thoroughly investigated.

The NAF-931, carrying 25 personnel on a routine mission from Benin to Lagos on Monday, crashed in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Aneke, who led the NAF Search Recovery Team to the crash site in Igbokoda on Thursday, assured families of the victims that NAF would “take necessary care of their welfare.”

The CAS, who expressed sadness over the incident, said NAF has lost some of its most brilliant, intelligent and professional officers to the crash.

He commiserated with families of the personnel who lost their lives in the course of their service to the nation.

“My job here is basically for two reasons: first, for the welfare of my people, to look at what is happening in recovery and then accountability.”

“On behalf of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and also officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces, I want to first express our deep sorrow and condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones in this tragic incident.”

“I basically knew everyone on that flight. I had flown on the aeroplane; my family has flown on it too. I know each of the crew personally; they are highly trained, professional, and intelligent officers.”

“The best we can do is to honour the sacrifice they have put forward by those on board aircraft, and I want to assure the families of our loved ones that NAF will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the crash is properly investigated,” Aneke said.

*Air Marshal Sunday Aneke

He said NAF would come up with a high-level delegation comprising both military and civilian safety experts, the National Safety and Investigation Bureau (NSIB), other relevant agencies, retired senior officers, experienced NAF officers, among others, to get to the root of the crash.

“If you know the aviation environment, you will understand that the more activities we have, the more likelihood you have of incidents like this.”

“The best we can do for them is to be a little bit patient and let those who are the specialists get to the bottom of what has happened.”

“This is not the time to start speculating, and I plead with the general public: we have lost people who are fighting for the nation; they had put in their best, and the best we can do is to be patient for specialists to get to the bottom of the cause.”

“We at NAF will leave no stone unturned when it comes to safety; we ensure everything is safe before we get on board.”

“It is a very big loss, and no amount of words we put can bring succour or understanding to those who have lost their loved ones.”

“NAF will be putting everything possible to ensure that the families get the necessary support they need,” Aneke said.

He noted that he has inspected the crash site (Ground Zero), giving assurance that the swamp buggies and other high-level machines would help remove the wreckage of the crashed aircraft from the swamp.

He thanked the residents of Igbokoda, who were the first responders to the incident, for their efforts and quick response, and also Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa for providing the resources and machinery needed to recover the aircraft wreckage.

Aneke also thanked the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, Fire Fighters, Federal Road Safety Corps, other security agencies, rescue teams and other emergency authorities for all their efforts.

Meanwhile, Air Vice Marshal Ebimobo Ebiowe, the Superintendent of Safety and Standards, said that frantic efforts had been made to recover the aircraft components and human parts from the swamp.

Ebiowe, who is also the Head of the Investigation Team, said efforts were ongoing to recover ‘recoverable parts’ which would aid the preliminary investigation into the crash.

“The preliminary investigation is not conclusive; it will only generate what happened, the number of factors like maintenance issues, weather, pilot error or other auxiliary reasons that were responsible for the crash.”

“The wreckage and other recovery efforts are preserved and documented until we recover the critical components of the aircraft.”

“We have deployed swamp buggies to the crash site because it is difficult terrain, and we hope to find the critical components like the “Black Box (Flight Data) and the “Cockpit Voice Recorder”, which will give proper insight into the crash.

“We are making efforts to get to the root of the cause in order to forestall future occurrence,” he said.