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Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has said a technical or mechanical problem may have been responsible for the crash of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of the state.
The governor made the disclosure on Monday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, shortly after the accident occurred in a swampy area opposite the Naval Base in Igbokoda.
The ATR-42 aircraft, identified by its tail number as NGR 931, was flying from Benin to Lagos on a routine mission when it reportedly lost communication with the control tower.
Aiyedatiwa said the circumstances suggested that the aircraft might have developed a fault while in flight, resulting in the loss of its signal.
“It is not a case of wanting to land like I said. So, some kind of technical problem might have happened to the aircraft that would make it lose signal,” he said.
The governor also played down the possibility of adverse weather, arguing that such conditions would likely have prevented the aircraft from departing in the first place.
“Anything could have happened in terms of a mechanical issue; it is not a case of weather because if it is weather, they would not even take off in the first place,” Aiyedatiwa said.
He noted that Benin and Lagos were not far apart and suggested that the aircraft could have encountered the problem after taking off.
Aiyedatiwa also disclosed that there was no information about any survivor at the time he spoke about the incident.
“So painful,” he said. “No survivor yet, from the information I have gotten.”
The Nigerian Air Force had earlier confirmed that the aircraft was an ATR-42 on a routine flight from Benin to Lagos. It said search-and-rescue operations had been activated in cooperation with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development Festus Keyamo said air traffic controllers had attempted to contact the aircraft by radio before receiving confirmation that it had crashed near the Naval Base in Igbokoda.
Keyamo said preliminary information indicated that 25 passengers and seven crew members were on board. He added that the wreckage had been located while search-and-rescue operations continued.
