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The Ondo State Government has deployed two specialised swamp buggies to recover the wreckage of the Nigerian Air Force aircraft that crashed in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area, killing all 32 people on board.
The machines were deployed after conventional vehicles and boats failed to access the difficult swamp where the ATR-42 aircraft, with tail number NGR 931, sank following Monday’s crash.
Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Banji Ajaka, disclosed the development on Tuesday while speaking with journalists at the crash site, saying security agencies, local authorities and emergency responders had been working on the recovery operation since the incident.
“The latest is that the swamp buggy has been deployed. Two of them are here now because that’s what is needed,” Ajaka said.
“It’s not an easy thing. It’s not something that you can just take a vehicle or a speedboat to.”
The commissioner explained that the specialised machines were required to navigate the waterlogged terrain and reach the depth where the main body of the aircraft had sunk.
“You can see that this one comes with a low bed. I brought it. This one has to float and swim down to the other side so that they can get to the depth where the body of the aircraft is,” he said.
Ajaka attributed the recovery difficulty to the force of the impact and the weight of the aircraft, saying the wreckage had been driven deep into the swamp.
“It has gone down. You know the force, the weight and the force with which it went down. So, that is what we’re doing now. There is no delay. We are deploying as fast as possible,” he said.
While the swamp buggies were being deployed, divers had already begun underwater operations and were recovering portions of the aircraft. However, Ajaka said the deeper section containing the main body remained inaccessible until the swamp could be excavated.
“The divers are doing their work. We are bringing wrecks out,” he said.
“For the body, the real body, this has to go down. We have to excavate deep down for the aircraft to be brought out.
“We have not seen a major body. By the time we bring the body out, we will be able to see the corpses.”
Ajaka said senior naval and air force officers, alongside the state Commissioner for Environment and other officials, were at the scene coordinating the recovery operation.
He described the crash as a “sad situation” and expressed the state government’s condolences to the Nigerian Air Force, the Armed Forces, the victims’ families and the people of Ondo State.
The commissioner also disclosed that the aircraft crashed about 500 metres east of the Nigerian Naval Forward Operating Base in Igbokoda after the pilots apparently diverted it away from the densely populated community.
He said the decision to divert the aircraft may have prevented a more devastating outcome in the coastal town, considering the number of people on board.
The Nigerian Air Force said the aircraft was carrying 25 passengers and seven crew members when it crashed near the naval base. Recovery teams are continuing efforts to reach the submerged wreckage and retrieve the victims.
